Game Nite magazine issue 14

Game Nite

Issue # 14

the magazine of tabletop gaming

e e r ges

F 0+ pa 10

Game Reviews app reviews

Bruno cathala game Designer

“Star realms: Rescue Run�

jon Ariosa Artist

and more!

In this issue: Reviews

book review

4 Star Realms: Rescue Run Star Realms Novel

6 Tabletop: Analog Game Design Game Design Essays

8 Board Game Apocalypse Gaming Novel

Education 86

Games in Education Top Family Social Studies Games

12 Hanamikoji Geishas.

16

Element Elemental Abstract.

20

Villages of Valeria New Valeria Game.

24

Mansions of Madness

Second Edition.

38

7 Wonders Duel

44

Oceanos Deep Sea Drafting.

48

Herbaceous Herbal Delight.

Solo Gaming

52

A Feast For Odin Rosenberg’s Valhalla.

82

74

Schotten Totten Knizia Classic.

78

This Belongs in a Museum Archeological Tile Laying.

Interviews 30

Bruno Cathala

58

John Ariosa

Game Designer.

Artist.

One Deck Dungeon Jeff Rhind

Comics 95 Comics Game Night comic strip.

Contributors

OPINION 90

92

Agricola: 10 years later

96

Baseball Highlights 2045 Android and iOS

2

Game Nite Contributors

Review index

Callum Dougherty

Mobile Reviews 10

Epic 2 Player Game.

Game Nite Issue #14

Back Issue Index

From the gaming table

Game Nite ISSUE # 14

T

he excitement being generated by the board game hobby is starting to be felt in establishments that are not normally associated with gaming.

Two of our local libraries are hosting Game Days or Game Nights, with one them talking about adding more dates. The popularity of games continues to rise and it’s exciting to welcome new members into the fold!

Cover Photograph by Serge Pierro.

Element © Rather Dashing Games

Editor in Chief/Publisher:

In this issue:

Serge Pierro

Bill Braun reviews “Mansions of Madness - 2nd Edition”.

Editor:

Jeff Rhind continues his series on solo games - this time featuring the hot game: “One Deck Dungeon”.

Eric Devlin

David Niecikowski’s follows up his popular “Top 10 Family Language Games” with his “Top Family Social Studies Games”.

Contributing Writers: Photographers: Bill Braun

Serge Pierro

Steve Krause takes a look at “A Feast For Odin” offers Part XI of his series on the “History of Tabletop Games”.

David Niecikowski

Bill Braun

Kevin Lauryssen

Jeff Rhind

Tom Franklin reviews “Tabletop: Analog Game Design”.

John Anthony Gulla

Robert Delwood

Callum Dougherty takes a look at 10 years of “Agricola”.

Jeff Rhind

Callum Dougherty

Christine Sampson

Steve Krause

Special thanks to Bruno Cathala for taking time from his busy schedule to share his thoughts with our readers.

Robert Delwood Callum Dougherty

Special thanks also to John Ariosa for his time and samples of his artwork.

Steve Krause

Congratulations to Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala and Repos Production for winning an Editor’s Choice Award for the brilliant ,”7 Wonders Duel”!

Tom Franklin Follow us on Facebook:

Serge Pierro

www.facebook.com/GameNiteMagazine Visit us at:

Editor in Chief

www.gamenitemagazine.com

editor@gamenitemagazine.com

Follow us on Twitter:

@GameNiteMag Issue #14

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Book Review

Star Realms: Rescue Run

I

t is rare when a board or card game is translated into another medium. Yet, for some reason CCG’s have had some success in doing so, and with Star Realms: Rescue Run, author Jon Del Arroz joins that group by presenting a story set in the universe of the Star Realms deck-building game. And while the novel focuses predominantly on the characters within the story, there are scattered references throughout that provide some insight into the inner workings of the Star Realms universe. Fans of the game will certainly want to take a look at this.

It should come as no surprise that one of the first problems one would have in translating Star Realms into a novel is the fact that the game revolves around Ships and Bases. Sure there are heroes and such added in the latter expansions, but for the most part it is ship-based combat. Arroz gets around this by referencing the ships in passing, and concentrating on the book’s protagonists and corporate structure. The Blob and other factions are touched upon, but not to the extent that we are privy to their thought process or background. Perhaps this will change as the series progresses.

As the title alludes to, this is a rescue story and as such the story focuses on the intrigue and drama surrounding the rescue.

However, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the story is the introduction and development of the “corporate class system” that drives some of the factions in the universe. We are given insight into how the elite “higher ups” look upon and treat those in the “lower caste” and their working conditions. Although this is running in the background, its impact is just as important as the main characters, and possibly even more so due to the fact that this is a large segment of the population.

The book starts off with several chapters alternating back and forth between the two main characters: Joan Shengtu, who is a thief and Dario Anazao, the son of a powerful, Corporate Vice President. After the first several chapters, you start to realize that it is inevitable that somehow the two of them are going encounter each other at some point in the story.

By Serge Pierro

It could also be said that Joan’s AI “sidekick” is one of the main “characters” in the story as well. Although I’m not a fan of this archetype, Arroz does a fine job of integrating the AI into the story, where it actually has an important role and is not just included for the sake of inclusion.

Without giving any major spoilers, the story moves forward at a decent pace and has all the elements one would expect within the genre. There is at least one “big” surprise that proved to be interesting and the characters were well developed and you felt empathy towards them.

The first thing that comes to mind after reading the first couple of chapters is that this is not an amateur effort.

Jon Del Arroz is a capable writer and does a good job of beginning to project the world of Star Realms onto the pages of the book, which is no small task, since the game is not based on personalities. Although they were lightly touched upon in the book, the Blob have already started to stand out as a mysterious and powerful entity within the storyline. I’m looking forward to reading more about them.

The only downside to the book was the fact that it was basically an intrigue/love story set in a Science Fiction setting. There were some references to some of the cards contained within the Star Realms game, but for the most part this could have been written for any Sci-fi Intellectual Property.

Whether you are a Sci-fi fan or just enjoy playing Star Realms, this will be a book that you will probably find enjoyable and it will certainly raise your interest in seeing how this series develops in the future. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future of this series has to offer.

Author: Jon Del Arroz Publisher: Evil Girlfriend Media

Recommended www.evilgirlfriendmedia.com

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Game Nite Issue #14

Book Review Tabletop: Analog Game Design

A

nalog Game Design edited by Drew Davidson and Greg Costikyan, published in 2001, is a collection of essays about game design and board game analyses with each chapter written by a different writer with his own perspective on gaming and design. In many ways it reads like a companion book to The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design (Game Nite #3), although the games mentioned seemed more current than those in the Kobold Guide and the overall tone is more serious, almost scholarly at times.

The book is divided into three sections: Designing Tabletop Games, Game Analyses, and The Study of Tabletop Games. Let’s take a look at each one: Designing Tabletop Games starts with an article by Lewis Pulsipher (designer of many Diplomacy variants, Dragon Rage, and Britannia) on the problems that arise when games move from two players to three. His in-depth analysis of the specific problems of 3+ player games presents does a fine job of preparing the reader for the in-depth consideration with which the book deals with its subject matter.

Other chapters in this section include essays on game design simulations, thoughts on the implications of randomness in your games, the role dice can play in building a game’s outcome and storyline, modern considerations, and choices for producing a prototype game. There is also a far too short chapter on the simplicity of many of Dr. Reinier Knizia’s game designs, especially with regard to the depth and replayability of these games.

The Game Analyses section of the book starts with chapters on the design aspects of Settlers of Catan that made it so successful. This is followed by Peter Olotaks, designer of Cosmic Encounters who writes on the development of the rules behind his game. From there the section moves into chapters devoted to specific games – Pandemic, Poker, Ra, and Twilight Struggle – detailing what makes these games compelling and what designers can learn from them to make future games better.

The final section, The Study of Tabletop Games, contains three essays: the first uses Settlers of Catan as a way to understand IF >> THEN programming statements while the second chapter attempts to describe the aesthetics of Abstracts, Wargames, Eurogames, and Ameritrash (Editior/Author Costikyan’s term). The final chapter, written by a the director of the Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC, the book’s publisher) on the link between Improvisational Acting and Game Design.

Two chapters in Tabletop: Analog Game Design stand out enough to make it worth the effort to track down this book.

The first of these is The Greatest Gift by Ray Mazza. (Designer of Vainglory and Merge Dragons, as well as engineer/designer/creative

By Tom M Franklin

director for many of the Sims games since 2004) Here Mazza provides a well thought-out step-by-step guide for designing games starting with Brainstorming and moving through Goal Definitions to Starting Places (Mechanic, Theme, or Play Style) through play testing and troubleshooting to making the game ready for production. This mini-course in creating the backbone of any game condensed much of the reading on board game design that I have done in the past few years into a simple, easyto-follow approach to design work.

Stone Librande, the designer behind the boardgame Mechs vs Minions, and the videogames SimCity and Diablo 3 has the longest chapter in the book. Thankfully, it’s one of the most engaging as well. When his firstborn son was two years old Librande decided to make a game to play with his son on Christmas Day. That started a tradition of “the Christmas Game”, a new game designed and created by Librande for his family each year. As his son grew up not only did the games need to become more complex but, the game design and production process followed suit. Instead of spending a week or two on a game, as the years progressed, he began spending months and on them.

What makes Librande’s chapter stand out are the insights into each of the fifteen game designs. Each game was intentionally different, both in theme and components; each game was designed around a specific set of criteria (time to create, gameplay time and space, competing interests, etc.); each game had to meet the rising sophistication and expectations of his family. This annual challenge and evolutionary game design process should impress any aspiring game designer.

Comparisons to The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design are inevitable. Personally, I found some of the Kobold Guide writing to be trying a bit too hard for laughs at the expense of serious consideration of the subject. One of my issues with Tabletop, however, is that the writing is occasionally too scholarly.

Overall, Tabletop is a somewhat uneven collection of essays.

The handful of misses, however, are more than made up for by the articles that were so engaging as to make me want to start sketching out game design ideas then and there.

If you’re a game designer or want to be a game designer, this is definitely a book worthy of your time.

Editors: Greg Costikyan & Drew Davidson Publisher: ETC Press

Recommended http://bit.ly/2lhiVGl

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Game Nite Issue #14

Book Review

Board Game Apocalypse

By Serge Pierro

A

friend of mine enjoys going to the movies. Sometimes he sees a specific type of movie that he describes as one in which “You have to leave your brain at the door”. This was my first impression when I started reading this book, as the premise is tough to accept. That is not to say that the book is terrible, but you certainly have to suspend your rational train of thought while reading it.

The premise of the story is that there are four gamers in the midst of playing some games when there is suddenly an EMP attack. All of the electronic devices in the area no longer work and they have no idea of what is going on in the surrounding areas. So they use their experience as gamers to respond to the situation.

Their first thought is that they should break into a Walmart and grab supplies. This includes food and guns, as well as other necessary provisions. But, then instead of continuing to stock up on supplies, they decide that they will need a collection of board games to tide them over in the coming months/years.

Seriously? They stop gathering food and supplies to get games?

If they were already “serious” about games and gaming, chances are they already owned a somewhat substantial collection. But somehow this is deemed important at this crucial moment in time. And then one of them feels the need to go back out and grab some posters to decorate the apartment.

Two Years Pass The story continues with the core premise of the book.

Somehow these guys are declared “Players” and the other survivors are called “Meeples”. This is a lord/slave relationship with the Players making their moves on a board and the Meeples carrying out the orders. Meeples are not allowed to speak to Players. I’m sorry, but I just can’t accept that a whole population of survivors are going to be pawns in some real-life game.

there were other people in this and the surrounding areas, with a substantial amount of people. I don’t think that I’d be going out on a limb by saying that there would probably be another group of individuals with guns who would disagree with their idea. Oh… and what about the police or military?

One of the more interesting gamer related groups in the story are the “Ameritrashers”. This group is a lot like “TwoFace” in “Batman”, except that they roll dice instead of flipping a coin.

There is a love interest/story that comes into play once the Player/Meeple storyline is further developed. This allows for the main character to grow and pushes things along at a more tolerable pace. From this point forward the book gets a bit more interesting.

My favorite part of the book deals with the Cult Of Cthulhu cultists and I think most people would agree.

This adds some humor to the story, as well as setting up an interesting and fun ending, as well as providing the best integration of the board game/real world premise in the book.

Needless to say the book did not get off to a good start with me and as an avid reader I was dreading having to read the rest. But, it did get better. Perhaps it was my “accepting” of the premise or maybe the writing improved, but the story was better in the latter part of the book. I realize that for the most part I’ve gripped about several things about this book, but in the long run it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. If your reading preferences are more along the lines of Pynchon or Murakami, this book is not be for you.

If you approach it as a light young adult novel with gamer references throughout, you might enjoy the experience.

Perhaps my biggest gripe with the book is that it reminds me of “The Walking Dead” — without zombies. Where did all of the people go? They are located in a northern Utah suburb and lived on the fourth story of an apartment building. Clearly

Author: Sean O’Brien Publisher: Self Published

Worth Trying Available on Amazon.com

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Mobile Review

Baseball Highlights 2045

By Serge Pierro

An Editor’s Choice Award Winner Goes Mobile

A

s a Baseball fan, it should come as no surprise that one of my favorite games is Baseball Highlights 2045.

Mike Fitzgerald’s brilliant design captures the essence of baseball in an elegant deck-builder that appeals to both baseball fans and gamers. It easily won an Editor’s Choice Award in issue #3 of Game Nite. Let’s step up to the plate and see what the mobile version delivers.

The app comes with both a rulebook and tutorial. The tutorial does an excellent job of teaching the game.

The setting option only allows you to adjust the volume of the sound and the speed of the animation.

The game is playable against the built in AI or Pass and Play. Both were acceptable, though I preferred playing it solo against the AI. Though it is nice to have the option to play against a friend.

When choosing the setup for the game you are given the options for choosing your team, AI or Hot Seat and the difficulty of the AI. The AI only has two levels: easy and normal. Normal is the tougher of the two and for all intents and purposes the only one you will wind up playing against.

Easy is useful for players who have never played the tabletop game and want to get a feel for how it plays.

You are also given the option to skip the three game series and only play one game. However, since the highlight of the game is the drafting of new players to strengthen your deck, the three game option allows you to build a more competitive deck for the “best of seven” Worlds Series.

After choosing your team and opponent, you are taken to the main screen which features the playing area. Here you will play your card each turn and see which runners are on base.

There is also a small screen that shows your opponents score and runners, as well as the type of card that was played (Ex: Cyborg) You can tap an icon to take you to your opponent’s screen to see everything in more detail.

After playing your card the screen “fades” to your opponent’s board and the results are carried out. At times the fading

back and forth can get a little confusing as to who’s turn it is.

When a game is over, a round of purchasing Free Agents comes into play. Each player will have a certain amount of money, based on their cards, in which to purchase new cards. When a card is purchased, it is immediately replaced. After you have completed your purchases you will then assign what cards you want to “send to the minors” (remove from the deck). This can lead to some tough decisions when choosing from the cards displayed at the bottom of the screen.

One of my favorite features is the display of stats at the end of each game. These include: Runs per game, hits per game, home runs per game, cancels per game, extra inning wins and saves. At the end of the World Series you receive a final screen with all of the stats.

There are three expansions available: “Cyborgs, Naturals and Robots” (30 cards), “Rally Cap” (15 cards) and “Errors” (15 cards).

With the AI presenting a tough challenge this is a great app to hone your skills against. Since there is a “Resume” button on the main screen, you can start a “season” and play it at your convenience. It would have been interesting if there was a “keeper” option, so that you and the AI could build highly competitive decks over a period of time and see how that would play out.

I love playing this game in “real life” and the app version is equally as enjoyable. If you like the game you will certainly enjoy the app. If you haven’t played the game, then this is a great opportunity to try it for $3.99 and see if you like it. The app “knocks it out of the park” -- it’s a great implementation of the tabletop game.

Version #: 1.10.4 Price: $3.99 Devices: Android and iOS Designer: Mike Kossits Developer: Peter Kossits

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Game Nite Issue #14

Highly Recommended

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Game Review

Hanamikoji

By Serge Pierro

Intriguing Small Card Game

F

ollowing the success of “Love Letter”, there appears to be a design trend towards games that contain a small deck of cards, yet yield a “big” gaming experience. One such game is “Hanamikoji”.

This filler game forces some interesting decision making that is intriguing for a game of this size.

“Hanamikoji” comes in a small 4 1/4” x 6 1/4” x 1 1/4” box and contains no insert.

The game comes with two 16 page rulebooks, one is in English and Japanese, and the other is for China and Taiwan. Each rulebook is the size of the box and is split equally between the two languages.

The rules are concise and contain illustrations. Although the game is icon based, due to the simplicity of the four actions, it shouldn’t take long to memorize their meanings.

The Victory and Action tiles are linen finished and are of a decent cardboard stock.

The cards are the main components of the game and come in two different sizes. The 7 Geisha cards are oversized at 3 1/8” x 4 5/8” and the 21 Item cards are 2 1/2” x 3 1/2”. Both decks are linen finished.

To start the game place the Geisha cards in numerical order from 2 to 5 in a straight line in front of both players. Place each of the Victory tokens onto the middle of each card. Shuffle the 21 card deck and remove one card (without revealing what it is) and place it aside. Deal each player six cards and begin the game.

The first thing that a player will do on their turn is to draw a card.

Then they will choose one of the available actions on their Action tiles to perform.

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The four actions are: The “1” Action is called “Secret”. When you take this action you place one of the cards from your hand facedown underneath the Action token. This card will be revealed and scored at the end of the round, by placing it under the appropriate Geisha.

The “2” Action is called “Trade-off”. This action allows receive the other two cards and place them alongside the you to take two cards from your hand and place them appropriate Geisha(s) on your side. These cards will be facedown underneath the “Trade-off” token. These used for scoring at the end of the round. cards are out of play for the current round and will not be scored.

The “4” Action is called “Competition”. You take four cards from your hand and make two piles of two cards The “3” Action is called “Gift”. You take three cards each. Your opponent gets to choose one of the piles and from your hand and show them to your opponent. They places the cards alongside the appropriate Geisha(s) on get to choose one of the cards and place it alongside their side of the table and you get to place the remaining the appropriate Geisha on their side of the table. You cards alongside the appropriate Geisha(s) on your side.

These cards will be used for scoring at the end of the round.

Continued on next page>

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Game Review (Cont.)

While the Actions are interesting on their own, what makes the game fascinating is that you can only use each action ONCE per round. When you use an Action you flip the associated tile over to reveal a grayscale version of the front side; this is done to indicate that the Action has been used for the round. You will use all four Action tiles each round. Managing the four Actions is the crux of the game, as you try to figure out how and when to use them to your advantage.

There’s a lot to like about this game. From the ease of play and fascinating decision making, players will have to try and work out what is the best way to use the cards that they will see for each round. Certain strategies start to emerge, as well as an element of bluffing, if players choose to do so. There are times when you get a “strong hand” and you have to figure out how to make something out of it, while at the same time minimizing your opponent’s use of those same cards against you.

The limitation of the four Action tiles present players The object of the game is to win 4 Geishas, or have 11 with a pleasant intellectual dilemma as to how to make or more Victory points at the end of a round. Victory the best out of the 10 cards they will see in a round. points are tallied by the numbers listed on the Geisha This is a great game for couples and due to its size and cards that you control. If both victory conditions are portability it is perfect for traveling. If you enjoy small met at the same time, the Victory point condition takes card games that have big gameplay, then this is one that precedence. is well worth seeking out.

To win the favor of a Geisha you need to have more item cards for that Geisha than your opponent. Whoever has the most cards takes the Victory token on the card and places it closer to them. If there is a tie, the marker remains where it is.

The most interesting feature of the game is when there is no winner in the first round of play. The Victory tokens are kept where they are and a new round begins.

This leads to some engaging play as you now play to maintain control of the Geisha’s you already have and attempt to gain control of your opponent’s. This is where the game really shines, due to the “give and take” element, as each round is different from the preceding one. The game has a maximum of 3 rounds.

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Designers: Kota Nakayama Publisher: Quick Simple Fun Games Number of players: 2 Mechanic: Hand Management/Area Control Ages: 10+ Length: 15 mins.

Game Nite Issue #14

Recommended www.quicksimplefun.com

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Game Review

Element

By Serge Pierro

Elemental Abstract

A

bstract games typically don’t garner the same amount of attention as other games; however, within the last year we’ve seen the release of some quality Abstracts, including Santorini and Onitama, and there appears to be a growing interest in these types of games. Rather Dashing Games throws their hat into the ring with their offering of Element and judging from the gameplay and production values, it just might find a place on your shelf.

Element comes in an 8 1/2” x 8 1/2” x 3” linen finished square box and has a cardboard insert that provides two wells, while also providing a shelf for the game’s board which stores flush with the top of the box.

The 12 page rule book is the same size as the box and is nicely designed.

Pages 2 & 3 cover the rules of the game, while the others devote 2 pages to each of the game’s elements. Each element is given an overview with numerous examples. This makes learning easy and is an excellent reference.

The four panel board is linen finished and is made of a very sturdy cardboard. And while the physical attributes are top notch, I’m a bit disappointed in the “distressed” graphic design. Perhaps it’s my dislike for “custom distressed” guitars that influence my opinion, but for a game that has a top notch production values, I hate to see a board with “water stains” and “faded” artwork and such. The overall design is pleasing, but the “distressed” areas are distracting.

The 120 Element Stones are made of plastic and are broken down into four color groups to match the four elements. The textured pattern along the sides is a nice touch and one that further exemplifies the game’s production values.

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Also enclosed is a flat bottomed cloth bag with a drawstring that has the icons of the elements embroidered on it.

There are four 1 5/8” tall resin miniatures, with two of them featuring an accessory of a staff and each of them in a different color. These are nice solid pieces, with a decent weight to them and almost have the feel of a lightly weighted chess piece.

The setup of the game depends on the number of players. In a two player game the Sages are placed in the center of the board. In a three or four player game they are each separately placed in one of the circles marked on the board.

movement. This modifies the Sage’s movement rate of one space per turn. Thus if you choose not to draw any Stones on your turn, your Sage may then move five spaces (one for its normal move, plus four additional moves). Sages do not have to move on their turn.

At the start of a player’s turn they will have to decide There are four different Element Stones, and each has on how many Element Stones they will draw randomly a different effect. from the bag. You may draw up to four; however, for each Stone that you do not draw, you gain an additional Continued on next page>

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Game Review (Cont.)

Fire: When Fire is placed next to another Fire it Earth replaces Water and Water replaces Fire. Instead “spreads” on the opposite end: this is done by taking a of placing an Element on an empty space on the board, you can replace it in the above manner. This can lead Fire Token from the bag and placing it. to many interesting offensive and defensive maneuvers Water: I found Water to be the most fascinating and is a subtle, yet very useful tool to have available Element. When you place a Water Token next to throughout the game. Elements that are replaced in this another one, the one that was placed becomes the manner are returned to the bag.

“Headwater” and forms a River. The River now moves The game ends when a Sage is completely surrounded X spaces, where X equals the number of Water Tokens in the River. This allows the River to move “snakelike” and unable to move. around the board and can lead to many interesting I was surprised at how fast many of the games were. offensive and defensive strategies.

While it falls within the time frame of a filler, the game Earth: Earth has the potential to be the most deadly play tends to be a bit more robust, complete with an when it is upgraded to a Mountain. To upgrade, a ever changing board and offers high replayability. second Earth Element is placed on top of another Although I prefer Abstract games that provide open one. The advantages of a Mountain is that it can’t be targeted by the “Rule of Replacement” (see below). If information, the drawing of the Element tokens from a Mountain connects orthogonally to any other Earth the bag did provide a fascinating dynamic to the game.

Elements it forms a Range and all of the Elements in the Range are immune to the “Rule of Replacement”. If you are a fan of Abstract games or games with depth However, the real power of the Range is that it blocks that can be played quickly, then this is a game that potential escapes via the diagonal escape routes, thus you will want to take a look at. From the production making it easier to trap an opponent and win the game. values to the dynamic gameplay, this Abstract deserves a serious look.

Wind: The Wind Element is rather unique, as it is the only Element that doesn’t trap a Sage. Its main use is Designer: Mike Richie that of providing a quick escape route with the bonus of Publisher: Rather Dashing Games free movement. Sages may jump over a Wind Element and this does not count as a move, thus multiple jumps Number of players: 2-4 are possible. If a Wind Element is stacked, it becomes a Mechanic: Abstract Whirlwind and allows the Sage to jump the number of Ages: 14+ spaces equal to its height.

As mentioned above, there is a special rule called the “Rule of Replacement”. This works in a “Rock, Paper, Scissors” fashion. Fire replaces Air, Air replaces Earth,

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Length: 30 mins.

Game Nite Issue #14

Highly Recommended www.ratherdashinggames.com

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Game Review

Villages of Valeria

By Serge Pierro

Latest Addition to the World of Valeria

V

aleria: Card Kingdoms was the first game in the “Valeria” series by Daily Magic Games and our play group enjoyed playing it. So when the opportunity arose to review their recent release Villages of Valeria, we were interested in getting it to the table to see what this new game had to offer.

The game comes in a 7” x 4 3/4” x 1 3/4” box and has an insert that divides the box into three sections.

The 16 page rulebook is the size of the box and is clearly written with card breakdowns and clarifications. There is also a section on the solitaire version.

The 100+ cards are linen finished and are of a decent card stock with excellent snap.

The non-card components include 30 wooden “gold” tokens, which have white dots silkscreened onto both sides of the yellow disks. It also includes an attractive Active Player token that is a custom cut wooden castle that is silkscreened on both sides.

The set up for the game includes placing five cards from each of the two decks face up in a line to each deck. These will be the cards that players will get to choose from. Players will also receive a Castle card that generates one “wildcard” resource. Each player is dealt six cards from the Buildings deck. For the first turn only, each player will choose one of the cards from their hand and place it resource side up beneath the Castle card for their starting resource bonus.

The gameplay is fairly straightforward, on your turn you can take one of five actions. The actions are: Harvest, Develop, Build, Recruit and Tax. Each of these actions has a “follow” ability which allows the other players to

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take a “lesser” version of the action, if they choose. This is a mechanism that players of Puerto Rico and Race for the Galaxy will be familiar with.

Harvest: Using this action allows you to draw 3 Building cards, one at a time, while the “follow” ability allows the other players to draw 1 Building card.

Develop: The Develop action allows you to discard 1 card from your hand to place another card from your hand underneath your Castle, as a resource. The “follow” action is the same, except that you have to discard 2 cards..

Build: The main action is that you pay for a Building in your hand with the resources generated by your Castle (Placing a Gold token on each resource used.) and then you draw a card. The “follow” action is the same, except that you don’t draw a card.

Recruit: The main action allows you to Recruit an Adventurer by paying 1 Gold to the bank, while the “follow” action costs 2 Gold to add an Adventurer.

The player must have the requisite type and number of icons listed on the Buildings in order to Recruit an Adventurer.

Tax: The main action gives you 1 Gold from the bank and you may draw one Building card, while the “follow” action allows you to only draw a Building card.

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Game Review (Cont.)

The ending of the game is triggered by the number of players. Ex: In a 3 player game, the trigger is when a player has built a total of 12 Buildings and/or Adventurers.

mechanism, as well as the Follow mechanism, were easy enough to follow after a round or two, with players not necessarily needing to look at the player aide in order to decide what to do on their turn. However, newer gamers were confused by the action/follow mechanism and the Once the ending is triggered and the turn ends, the engine building aspects. Although this isn’t a difficult players will add up the total victory points indicated game, it isn’t a gateway game either. on their Buildings and Adventurers. Plus, each Gold is worth a victory point. The player with the most points Like many engine builders, this one felt like it ended wins. a little early, just as the engines were starting to reach a level of efficiency. Though the synergy amongst the The game also includes a Solo variant which is basically cards in play yielded some interesting moments, as well the same as the main game, but with some significant as several strategic paths to pursue. I’m looking forward differences. The main difference is that any Gold that is to playing more in the future to see what is revealed on placed on cards to purchase Buildings can’t be used on further plays. Like Valeria: Card Kingdoms, this was a the following turn, so you have to wait an additional turn game that our group wanted to play again. to get your Gold back. This obviously slows down the purchasing of Buildings, but you can get into a rhythm From the excellent Mihajlo Dimitrievski artwork to the of how to deal with it. The other significant difference engaging engine building mechanisms, Villages of Valeria is that you use only 35 cards in the Building deck and looks like a worthy successor to Valeria: Card Kingdoms the game ends when there are no cards left in the deck. and Daily Magic Games seems to be onto something Scores are tabulated based on your victory points and with their “familiar, yet different” game releases. I’m compared to a chart for your result. I was able to get looking forward to seeing what their next offering is! the second best score on my first try and realized that doing well came down to purchasing cards that gave you Designers: Rick Holzgrafe & Isaias Vallejo additional victory points for specific icons. It was an enjoyable variant, but due to the unknown quantity of Publisher: Daily Magic Games the 35 cards chosen for the deck, there was no real test Number of players: 1-5 of skill, as the randomness of the draw would influence Mechanic: Engine Building, Action Selection your peak score..

Villages of Valeria is a welcome addition to the “Valeria” line of games. Players were quick to note that this game was a “reversal” of Valeria: Card Kingdoms where here you buy Buildings to recruit Adventurers, which is the opposite of Valeria: Card Kingdoms. The Action

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Ages: 14+

Length: 45 mins.

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Recommended www.dailymagicgames.com

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Game Game Review Review

Mansions of Madness, Second Edition

By Bill Braun

Real Estate Worth Investing In

F

Regardless of a handful of early stumbles (there were several bugs with the performance of the application), Road to Legend was almost unanimously well received across the tabletop industry, and many of the FFG faithful were eager to see what else they had up their sleeves. Considered one of the better-kept secrets of the year, the announcement of Mansions of Madness Second Edition, just days before the kickoff of Gen Con 2016, sparked a wave of anticipation. Adding to this announcement, FFG revealed that an App would assume the role of the previously disjointed Overlord and allow for the game to be played entirely cooperatively – similar to Road to Legend. I’m not ashamed to admit that I squealed like a little girl from my office the morning Regardless, FFG forged ahead and took the App this news broke. technology to the next level by eliminating the need But with such secrecy comes a fair amount of of an Overlord player and upgrading their beloved franchise, Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second apprehension. Was this taking the Mansions of Edition, to be played entirely in cooperative mode Madness franchise into dark territory? Had FFG through the Road to Legend App. Giving players taken the lessons they learned from their experiences the option to run this latest App on a variety of developing the Road to Legend App and applied handheld tablets and on Steam, this completely the necessary changes? Most importantly, would changed how Descent could be played and opened an App that is capable of running the Overlord up this long-standing and robustly-supported player finally resolve the looming set-up issues that franchise to a group of highly enthusiastic gamers. plagued the first edition? antasy Flight Games (FFG) has taken the lead in developing tabletop games that utilize or require the inclusion of a digital application (App). Their first real leap of faith was with 2015’s release of Eric M. Lang’s, XCOM The Board Game.

Initially intrigued and enthusiastic with what the game had to offer, XCOM ultimately did little to keep me interested, while the mandatory use of the game App delivered more of a glorified timer than much else. Still, the idea of “forcing” this App functionality in order to play the game was a move that many felt was a risky proposition by the publisher and one that more than a few scorned and rallied against.

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Screenshot: Bill Braun

Gameplay Mansions of Madness Second Edition, a game of “Exploration, Mystery, and Horror for 1-5 players”, has been essentially redesigned from the ground up, while still keeping the consumer’s best interests in mind and incorporating much of the first edition’s components into this new base game. After essentially boxing up and storing away any remnants of the Overlord’s game components from the first edition, players are still able to utilize the remaining map tiles, character and monster miniatures, while merging in a good amount of new components from the second edition – cards, dice, and tokens.

An immediate improvement over the first edition can be found with the significant reduction in time and difficulty in setting up the game. After choosing characters and selecting the story to play through, the App assumes total control and guides the remainder of the process. Gone are the days when setting up Mansions of Madness would take nearly an hour of checking – and double checking – to ensure the rooms and cards had been laid out to properly match the chosen scenario. No longer will the owner of the game be concerned that all of his or her efforts could be ruined with the simple misplacement of a key component – essentially destroying the immersion and prematurely ending the game. The App does everything for you, and it does it quite well.

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Game Review (Cont.)

Photo: Bill Braun

The scenario’s starting tile is displayed on the screen, beginning common and unique items cards are distributed based on the number of characters and difficulty of the scenario, and the game begins with a dramatic and highly thematic voice-over narrative that sets the mystery in motion; leaving the players free to begin exploring as they see fit.

Mansions of Madness Second Edition’s game rounds are broken into several phases, but the mechanisms have been simplified to allow the game to remain laser-focused on what makes it so interesting – the theme and immersion. Investigators take turns in the order of their choice and may perform up to two actions: move, explore, search, trade, interact, and attack. While the game components remain within reach of the players, the App intuitively keeps track of everything that is happening in the physical space and prompts the players to build out the board when required and reveals new elements of the game only when called for.

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Nearly every action that a player may take requires direct interaction with the game’s application.

Whether exploring a new room, investigating a point of interest, or attacking a creature, the manner in which the App responds to these actions slowly, and inevitably, sucks the player deeper and deeper into the story through random, yet unique narratives specific to the action taking place:

• Search the end table to find a tattered newspaper that provides some history of the family you may be investigating

• Interact with a painting, only to reveal a hidden safe that prompts an in-App puzzle to be solved

• Decide how to attack the creature that hunts you – with a blade, a spell, or your bare fists After all players have taken their two actions, the App responds with the Mythos phase. Events

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Screenshot: Bill Braun

often target specific characters, or those that are currently located in a randomly selected location (in the library, on the street, in the basement, etc.).

Similar to character actions, these Mythos Events often require the player to succeed at a specific skill test by rolling a number of eight-sided dice.

Success, failure, or, in some cases, partial success, will determine the consequences depending on the scenario and current objectives.

Play continues between the investigators taking actions and the game responding. The board will continue to grow as time passes, creatures will be spawned when appropriate, and the story will change based on the players’ interactions with the residents and items of this world. But don’t take too long. As tempting as it will be to explore behind every door and investigate every point of interest, the longer the investigators take to solve the mystery, the darker the Mythos Events will become.

After resolving the Mythos Event, every monster currently in play will activate, attack the players, Theme and Components and prompt a Horror check. But again, the App tracks everything and instructs the players when A game like Mansions of Madness Second Edition to take these actions, how to manage the Monster leans heavily on its use of strong theme, well-written miniatures that are on the game board, and what narrative, and immersive storytelling. Although the additional effects might be added into the scenario.

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Game Review (Cont.)

Photo: Bill Braun

exceeds a character’s health or sanity they become wounded or insane and must deal with the accompanying symptoms. If that same character repeats this process they are eliminated, leaving only a final round for the remaining investigators And what would a Cthulhu-based tabletop game to solve the mystery. be without insanity and life-threatening injuries?

As appropriate as it may be for a character to Unlike many of the Lovecraftian games that have come before it, Mansions of Madness Second Edition become insane during a scenario of Mansions or approaches the idea of a character’s health and Madness Second Edition, the developers reached sanity in a new and unique way. Instead of utilizing even deeper into their bag of tricks to add a final, the all-too-common health and sanity tokens, thematic mechanism. Taking on an insane condition horror and damage cards are added into the mix. may alter how that investigator wins or loses the When taking damage from a Monster or fighting game and is kept secret from the rest of the players. off insanity from the latest Mythos Event, players Suspicion will be on the rise as the other players are are instructed to add the applicable Damage and forced to interpret your potentially odd behavior.

Sanity cards to their play area – sometimes face- Are you still working toward the greater good, or up, sometimes facedown. Each of these cards’ have you been inspired by more nefarious goals? effects range from nothing happening to significant injuries that hobble your ability to take actions, or While most of the components meet or exceed the mind-altering terrors that change how a character standards of what Fantasy Flight Games has become may interact with his or her surroundings. If the known for - the artwork, both in the App and in the number of damage and horror cards equals or box continues to impress me, and the tiles deliver a game mechanisms are easy to grasp, and the App provides a fantastic resource to help players manage much of the game’s housekeeping, theme is the primary selling point.

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wonderful sense of depth and are highly detailed - I am unfortunately let down by the game’s returned use of the various Monster figures. Anyone that has played the First Edition knows that adhering these creatures to their applicable bases was always problematic, and this same miniature formula continues with the Second Edition. Add to this the issue of severe overcrowding on the game board due to some overly large miniature bases, and what was intended to add to the game, slightly detracted from it.

Screenshot: Bill Braun

Final Thoughts I love everything about the Arkham universe that Fantasy Flight Games has developed and refined over the years. Unsurprisingly, Mansions of Madness First Edition was a must have when first released. On its cover, it represented everything I admired about these games. But with it came the unwieldiness of the Overlord player. Although conceptually inspiring, it left much to be desired.

As a result, my copy of Mansions of Madness First Edition was abandoned and left to collect dust on my gaming shelves.

Photo: Bill Braun

The changes that come with Mansions of Madness Second Edition, and the amazingly well developed App that is required to play it, immediately prompted a new love affair for this game. Add to this the support that FFG has provided – through both physical expansions and downloadable scenarios – and it has quickly jumped to the top of my list, securing a position as my favorite gaming experience of 2016. If you can look beyond a fairly sizeable retail price, fans of the Cthulhu Mythos should absolutely add this title to their gaming collection.

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Designer: Nikki Valens Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games Number of players: 1-5 Mechanic: Co-op Ages: 14+ Length: 120-180 mins.

Highly Recommended www.fantasyflightgames.com

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Interview

Bruno Cathala

By Serge Pierro

Game Designer Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with our readers, can you tell us a little something about yourself?

As long as I can remember I have always loved playing games. Any kind of game. And collective sports as well (i’ve been a Rugby player for 20 years). Today I have the unique opportunity to be able to earn my income, from doing my passion.

Believe me, it’s priceless!

Did you start designing games at an early age? If so, do you remember what your first game design was like?

I discovered “modern games” quite late, when i was 20, reading a French magazine dedicated to games. I bought my first game,

Bruno Cathala

Designer Abyss Mr. Jack Five Tribes Shadows Over Camelot www.brunocathala.com

Fief, at this time, and it gave me the idea, perhaps one day, to create my own game. But at this time I had absolutely no idea as to what to do and how to create a game. The only ideas I had, were all more or less chess variants. And it was clear to me that it made no sense to work in that way. So, for years, I just fed myself with all kind of games, buying them, learning them, teaching them to my friends, always keeping in mind that one day I would do my own game. That day came in 1999, when I was 36. It was suddenly clear to me, that it was time for me to make my dream a reality.

And i’ve been lucky enough to see my first game design being published some years later (Lawless - April 2003) Continued on next page>

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Interview (Cont.)

What games over the years have you enjoyed

most, from both the point of personal enjoyment, as well as those that influenced your growth as a designer?

I’m a big fan of 2 players abstract games. And one of the game I would never be bored with, is GYGES, from Claude Leroy. I’m also a big fan of Kris Burm’s GIPF project.

But the game that changed my vision of games and probably gave me the keys to start my own design, has been Magic The Gathering, designed

by Richard Garfield

When the opportunity presents itself, what games have you currently been playing?

Well, the problem is that I have only one playing session each week, and that evening is fully dedicated to playtesting my own games.

So, sadly I don’t spend enough time to play other games. But if I have enough time, and depending of the category of players, I enjoy games like Santorini, Flamme Rouge, Code Names, Scythe, Star Realms, etc... as you can see, the range is wide !

You are well known for working with other designers, what do you feel is the main thing that you contribute to the partnership?

Frankly speaking it’s hard to answer this question, because the way I’m working with Antoine Bauza, Ludovic Maublanc, Bruno Faidutti, Charles Chevallier, etc is really really different each time, even if I’m the same guy! You should probably ask them why they want to work with me ;-)

Who are your favorite game designers?

I always have a look at Ignacy Trzewiczek’s game design. He is a really clever designer.

But I could also speak about Sebastien Pauchon, Antoine Bauza, Uwe Rosenberg… and the list is long!

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Is there any particular designer that you haven’t worked with that you would be interested in collaborating with? If so, what type of game would you be interested in making?

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I would love to make a game with Richard Garfield, or Ignacy, or Rob Daviau for example.

Never mind the project! Just to share good times and ideas with them. And see where it leads.

When starting a new design, do you start with a theme or a mechanic?

You forget a 3rd starting point: components !! (for example, the starting point with Kingdomino was making a game with dominoes) So… I have no rules. The starting idea can come from any one of these 3 starting points.

But for me, Theme, Mechanic, Components, are only tools. The real target is the specific game experience I want to try to generate for the players.

I’m not saying I always succeed in creating something special, but it’s my goal.

For some of them, development is finished, but it’s still work to contact publishers, trying to get answers, etc.

For some of them, development is in progress, with some playtesting session each week.

And for some of them, it’s only sparkling ideas I keep in mind, trying to imagine where it could go, until i find the time to create first prototype.

So.. it never stops !

What is your daily design/playtest schedule like?

What do you think defines your “style” as a game Do you work on games everyday? designer, is there a specific mechanic or rule set Yes, I’m working on games each day. You know or… ? it’s impossible to say to your head “Hey!! Please.. stop thinking!!”

I’m always working on something like 10 games at the same time. But they are not all at the same development stage.

Some of them will be released very soon, but it’s also part of my job to communicate on social networks for example.

You know, it’s difficult to imagine how other people see you. I have no idea how to define my “style”. I don’t know if I have one “type”. My only rule is to work only on games I want to play myself. It’s quite a selfish attitude, because I do the game I want now. And then I try to convict publishers, and then gamers, that they have to follow the same way with me.

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Interview (Cont.)

Which one of your games do you consider your best design, and why?

I’m still proud of all my designs, never mind how successful they’ve been. They are like my children. You don’t ask a father which of his child he prefers. ;-) But, for a lot of personal reasons connected to my private life, Five Tribes has a specific place in my heart. Because of the relationship between my son and me.

As a designer, do you have a favorite player count that you prefer to design for?

No, I have no favorite player count. But it seems that the ideas which came the most easily are very often really good for 2 players.

Probably it comes from my early gaming experience, mostly dedicated to games like Chess, Go, Othello, Pente etc…

time, my first theme is kept by the publisher.

For exemple, Yamatai, which is coming soon, has been retimed. But games like Kanagawa, Kingdomino and Abyss were our initial ideas.

I never have any problems working on another theme, as long as it makes sense.

What inspired you to add the “traitor element” to Your games have a wide variety of themes. “Shadows Over Camelot”? Was it there from the How often are your initial themes changed by a beginning or was it added at a later point in the publisher, and what designs have gone from start development? to finish with the same theme?

No, the traitor idea came from me. Serge I would say that at the beginning, half of my invited me to work on a cooperative game with games received new themes after having found him, based on Knights of the Round Table, and a publisher. Today, I would say that 80% of the I immediately said “Oh yes, for sure, but we

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have to introduce the possibility that one player is a traitor”. Reason is very easy to understand; I’m not a big fan of pure cooperative games, because of the alpha leader problem. So, in my mind, introducing a traitor was a good way to decrease this problem.

allowed you to have a more focused approach to exploring the depth of your design?

Like i said, Five Tribes is a game which had a specific story. In fact, at this time, it was really really difficult for me to get enough income from my royalties to pay my rent, the studies “Five Tribes” is my favorite game that you’ve of my children, taxes etc. So, I had to work as designed and you didn’t work with a co-designer. game developer for some companies, and when Do you feel that the process of working alone you are developing the “big” game of another

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Interview (Cont.) designer for a publisher, it’s good for you because you are paid for that, but at the same time, you don’t have enough time to develops you own big game. That’s the reason why, during all this time, I’ve published a lot of “smaller” games, like Noah, Little Prince and so on. And that led to frustration. A big frustration. One day I decided to stop working for the others and to create my own “big” game. All the ideas came in a very short time. I built the first prototype in 2 days, and game system never changed after that. Only fine tuning to balance the different strategies.

In this issue we take a look at “7 Wonders Duel”.

What were the challenges in taking an already popular game and turning into a dedicated two player game that evoked the original, yet still being able to stand on its own?

The main challenge was not to disappoint fans of 7 Wonders! When you are working on such a popular license, you generate high expectations, which can easily lead to a big deception.

But in fact work was not that hard, because everything we did was logical: - Drafting for only 2 players? Well.. lets place the cards on the table with the “pyramid” pattern - No right and left neighbors for military cards? well.. lets create the track etc etc.

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What can you tell us about your upcoming release with Days of Wonder, “Yamatai”?

In this game, players have to build the legendary city of Yamatai for the Queen Himiko.

For that, you have to select the best fleet, which triggers: - Turn order - The kind of materials you ships carry on - The specific ability you will be able to use Then you have to distribute your ship on the board, according to simple rules.

Then you will have the choice: - to take ressources (which is a way, then to recruit some powerful specialists) - to build houses giving you victory points But…keeping in mind that whatever you do, it will be good for you, but also giving opportunities to the other players.

So, you will have to find the best way to balance this to your advantage.

Are there any other upcoming projects that you are at liberty to discuss or announce?

This year will see the release of many expansions: - One expansion, The Crew, for Jamaica - A second expansion for Five Tribes - A second expansion for Abyss

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What advice would you have for aspiring game designers?

To learn patience.

To playtest a lot before contacting any publisher.

To write their rules very very carefully.

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Game Review

7 Wonders Duel

By Serge Pierro

A 2 Player Game for the Ages!

I

t’s no secret that I prefer two player games, as there is something about sitting across from your opponent and playing a game without the outside influence of other players that I really enjoy. So when it was announced that 7 Wonders Duel was going to be a dedicated two player game of the classic game 7 Wonders, I was very intrigued; but, when I heard that Antoine Bauza was going to work on it with Bruno Cathala, well, that really got me excited. Can this small two player game capture the essence of the original game, while at the same time providing a new gaming experience? Let’s take a look.

The game comes in a 8” x 8” x 2” linen finished box. Inside there is a custom, black plastic insert that is moulded to hold the various components. This is well designed and the board fits nicely into the provided recess, while at the same time acting as a cover for some of the components.

The 20 page rulebook is the size of the box and has a nice graphic design that clearly presents the various aspects of the game. The rules are thorough and concise and there are examples that help clarify rules that could possibly be misconstrued. As a bonus, there are several Miguel Coimbra illustrations placed throughout the book, as well as a “Help Sheet” for quick reference.

Although this is primarily a card game, there is a small game board that is linen finished and made of a sturdy cardboard stock.

This will be used to track the Conflict marker and to display the available Progress tokens for the game.

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There are several cardboard tokens and they are all of a high quality and linen finished. The coins are not perfectly round, and as someone who collects ancient Roman coins, this is a nice touch that further accentuates the theme.

The conflict token is made of a hard, molded plastic.

taken up more tabletop space. They are of a decent stock and should be fine for their intended use.

The game uses small cards, measuring 1 3/4” x 2 3/4”.

I was quite surprised when I first saw them, but I quickly realized that it made sense, as larger sized cards would’ve

The cards for the Wonders are larger than the “Age” cards, measuring 2 1/2” x 4” and are also of a decent

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Game Game Review Review (Cont.)

(Cont.) stock; however, they started to warp after being out of the box for several minutes.

need to pay the Bank 3 coins -- 2 for the wood, plus one additional coin because you opponent generates 1 wood. Wonders are built in a similar manner with Also included is a full color score-pad. the exception that after paying the resources listed on the Wonder, a card is drafted (without paying its cost) Setting up the game is easy, with most of the time and placed underneath the Wonder to indicate that the spent on building the “drafting pyramid”. This is built Wonder has been built. three times during the game, with each layout having a different configuration.

Some cards have special icons on them. When paying for a card these icons can be listed as an alternate cost.

After receiving the initial components and setting If the icons match, you don’t have to pay the resource everything up, the drafting begins. cost, you get the card for free.

To draft a card you need to be able to pay its cost, which can either be free or have the appropriate resources/ coins. Cards can only be drafted from areas that are not covered by other cards.

Like “7 Wonders” there are several card types: Raw Materials provide the basic resources.

Manufactured Goods produce the “rarer” resources.

Civilian Buildings provide victory points.

Scientific Buildings provide victory points, Progress tokens and an alternate victory path.

Commercial Buildings provide various resource, coin and trading effects.

Military Buildings move the Conflict pawn on the board.

Guilds are essentially endgame scoring cards.

On your turn you can construct either Buildings or Wonders. Some Buildings are free, while others need to be paid with the pertinent resources. If you don’t have the required resources, you can purchase them from the bank at a rate of 2 coins per resource, plus an additional 1 coin for each of the same resources that your opponent generates with their Raw Materials and Manufactured Goods cards. Ex. You need to buy 1 wood and your opponent generates 1 wood. You will

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Upon playing a Military card, you move the Conflict token equal to the number of symbols on the card and in the direction of your opponent. If the token crosses one of the dotted lines on the board the defender loses the amount of coins listed on the token. Should the token reach the opposing Capital, the game immediately ends with the attacker automatically winning.

If a player drafts a Science card that matches a previously drafted Science symbol, they get to choose one of the Progress tokens on the board. And if they obtain 6 of the 7 different symbols on the cards, they automatically win with a Scientific Supremecy victory.

If you are unable to pay for a card, you need coins or you want to deny your opponent a card, you can discard a card from the drafting area for 2 coins, plus one additional coin for each yellow card you control.

There are three paths to victory: Military, Progress and Victory points. If the Conflict pawn reaches your opponent’s capital, you automatically win the game. Likewise, if you are able to get six different scientific symbols you win the game. If neither of the aforementioned conditions are met, then the winner is determined by the greatest number of victory points after completing all 3 Ages. The enclosed score pad is

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very helpful in notating the individual scoring of each process. This was far more interesting than the more source of points. pedestrian passing of cards to the player on your left/ right.

I am very impressed with 7 Wonders Duel. The team of The “Burn the card” for money is taken to a new Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala brought their creative talents to an already popular game and transformed it level in this game for two reasons. One there is the into an excellent two player experience. Every aspect of denial element in which you choose a card to “Burn” the original game was raised a notch and I believe that so that your opponent can’t buy it, the other is due to the interaction with the “Yellow” cards that you have this is actually the better game. bought, as each one gives you a +1 cash bonus when you Let’s start with the drafting. Not only is there the “Burn” a card. This can lead to accumulating large sums strategy of what cards to draft, but perhaps even more of cash in the Third Age. important, in what order they are drafted. There are Resources are tight, but the ability to buy from the times when you know that you will be crushed by a Military card if your opponent is able to get to it, so you bank helps alleviate it to some degree. There is also the have to strategize the order in which cards are taken. fascinating concept of using a “resource denial” strategy We found that the Wonders that granted an immediate in the first two Ages that can cost your opponent dearly second turn were quite useful in manipulating the draft if you can get the majority of “Brown” resources, as

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Game Review (Cont.)

they will have to pay a great deal extra to buy them in future rounds. This provided additional tension to the drafting process of the earlier rounds.

A simple but welcome addition to the game is the graphic design using icons for the free upgrade paths of buildings. You can now tell in an instant whether or not you can build a card for free. This is a big improvement over the original game.

With 12 Wonder cards and 10 Progress tokens there is a decent amount of replayability. However, only 3 cards are taken out of each of the Age decks at the start of the game, so there is not a whole lot of variety as far as they go, it would have been nice to have had some more cards in the potential pool.

7 Wonders Duel has quickly become one of my favorite two player games. It is fairly short, has a lot of interesting decisions to make, a decent amount of replayability and already has an expansion out. All in all, this is an excellent game that should find its way into many gamer’s collection.

Designers: Antoine Bauza & Bruno Cathala Publisher: Repos Production Number of players: 2 Mechanic: Drafting, Set Collection Ages: 10+ Length: 30 mins.

Highly Recommended www.rprod.com

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Game Review

Oceanos

By Serge Pierro

Deep Sea Drafting

O

ceanos is the latest design by Antoine Bauza, a designer who has the innate ability to design quality games that are quite different from his previous offerings. Let’s take a look at what makes Oceanos an interesting game, and like his previous efforts - different.

The game comes in a 12” x 12” x 3” box has no insert.

The 12 page rulebook is the size of the box. It has an excellent layout and is heavily illustrated.

The abundance of punchboards contain the Submarines, Upgrades, and the various tokens. All of these components are made of a thick and sturdy cardboard stock.

The 135 Exploration cards are broken down into three different decks.

The cards measure 2 1/4” x 3 1/4”. The stock seems to be a bit thin, but not detrimentally so, as they snap back nicely.

The game also includes a blue cloth bag for randomly drawing the Treasure tokens, as well as a custom score-pad.

To begin the game each player will choose one of the Submarines and its associated Upgrades, as well as Diver and Fuel tokens. They will also receive a player aide that is also used as a component for end of round upgrades. One Kraken token is randomly chosen from each of the three different sizes and they are placed facedown on the table.

Each of the three rounds will be made up of five turns. Each round will use the appropriately numbered deck. A first player is chosen and they become the Expedition Captain. They will then deal out 1 + x

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cards to each player, where “x” equals the number of periscopes on the player’s submarine. Players will choose one of the cards to keep and then return the extra card(s) to the Expedition Captain, who will then choose their card from amongst those returned. Each player places their chosen card in their tableau. Then the next player in turn becomes the Captain and drafting continues until five turns have been completed.

Besides drafting and playing the card, players have the opportunity to use the Fuel and Scuba Diver tokens on their submarine. The Fuel token allows a player to draft and play an extra card that turn. The extra card is placed in the tableau with the Fuel token placed on it. The Scuba Diver token is used by placing it on a Exploration card with a treasure chest on it. At the end of the game the Scuba Diver will move up towards the “surface” and collect treasure for each chest along the way. The Diver has to be placed at the same time that the treasure chest card is played. There is a “push your luck” element with the placement.

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Players can also Upgrade their submarine. For me, this is the most interesting part of the game. Some cards have Crystals on them and others have Bases. If you have a Crystal(s) in your row of cards and then place a Base, you are then able to upgrade one of the sections on your submarine. The player aide has a Base on it, so players can upgrade their submarine even if they didn’t draft a Base.

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Game Review (Cont.)

The submarine Upgrades are as follows: Periscope: Players start with a level 1 Periscope which grants them a second card at the beginning of the game.

This can be upgraded to level 2 and level 3, thus granting the player an additional 2 or 3 cards, respectively, during the drafting process.

I was quite impressed with the ease of play, interesting drafting mechanic and the modular submarine upgrades. This is an excellent family game that can also be used as a gateway game to introduce card drafting to new players. Overall the production is of a high quality; however, there were some tight tolerances on some of the submarine pieces which made connecting some of them together tough.

Propeller: The starting value of the Propeller is 0. The level 2 Upgrade will change it to “+2 points” and the Oceanos is a perfect game for those looking for a fast level 3, “+5 points”. These points score at the end of a “filler” game that has depth and lots of interesting round. decisions. The drafting mechanic is dynamic, especially when players start to upgrade their periscopes, and Motor: Each Motor Upgrade gives you an additional since the “better” cards feature the “Eyes of the Kraken” Fuel token that you can use each round. A level 3 there is a balancing act between taking those cards and Upgrade gives you 3 tokens that will yield you an avoiding having the most “Eyes of the Kraken” and additional 3 cards played on your turn. This works getting penalized. All of the submarine upgrades offer great in conjunction with the Aquarium. fascinating avenues of exploration and they’ll prompt you to try different strategies each game. I’m looking Aquarium: The Aquarium places a “cap” on how many forward to doing some more experimenting to see which points you can score per round based on the amount of strategy I like best. This is one of the better family games unique types of fish. Level 1 grants a maximum of 3 on the market that will satisfy both a child, and a parent unique fish scored, which scores up to 6 points a round. who is a gamer.

Level 2 allows 5 unique fish to score (up to 10 points a round) and level 3 allows 8 unique fish to score (up to 16 points a round).

Airlock: The Airlock gives an additional Scuba Diver token for each level Upgrade. Since these aren’t removed until the end of the game, the most Scuba Divers any player may have in a game is three.

Scoring is done at the end of each round and the criteria is listed on the player aide. The last round has a special endgame scoring section in which the number of continuous Coral score 1 point for each piece of Coral and the Scuba Divers return to the surface and retrieve all Treasure Chests along the way and draw the treasure tokens from the bag. Then all points are added and the highest score wins.

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Designer: Antoine Bauza Publisher: Iello Games Number of players: 2-5 Mechanic: Drafting, Modular Upgrades Ages: 8+ Length: 30 mins.

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Recommended www.iellogames.com

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Game Review

Herbaceous

By Serge Pierro

Herbal Delight

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ith a growing number of females entering the board game hobby, it’s always nice to see themes that could prove to be attractive to them. “Herbaceous” is a light “push your luck” card game that has players potting their herbs in various pots and should prove appealing to new gamers and their families.

“Herbaceous” comes in a 7 1/2” x 5 1/4” x 1 1/2” box and features areas of the box that are spot varnished. Inside there is a custom, white plastic insert that has more than enough room to store the cards and markers.

The rulebook is eight pages long and clearly displays the rules and illustrations. Also included is an separate double side page that explains the Solo Variant.

The 93 cards have a nice feel to them and are linen finished. The four Garden Markers are made of a sturdy cardboard stock.

At the start of the game each player receives a set of four Container cards and a Garden Marker. The amount of cards used in the game is determined by the number of players, with 0 cards removed in a 4 player game and 24 cards removed in a 2 player game. The cards are randomly removed and set aside. The Biscuit card is set to the side and play begins.

On a player’s turn they have two steps: Pot Herbs, which is optional and Plant, which is mandatory.

Pot Herbs is used to score points. At the start of a player’s turn they may fulfill the requirements of any unused Container. This can only be done once per turn. There are four Containers and they are as follows:

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Large Pot: This Container is used for identical cards. Anywhere from 1-7 Herb cards can be Potted here. The more Herb cards that are placed here, the higher the resulting score. Ex: 4 Tarragon cards score 14 points and 5 cards score 18 points, while 2 cards score only 6 points.

Wooden Planter: This Container scores different cards.

Glass Jar: The Glass Jar is a unique Container. This Anywhere from 1-7 different cards can be placed here. is the only Container that can contain the Special Only one of each card can be Potted. A wider variety of Herbs; Mint, Chive and Thyme. These cards are easily Herbs Potted results in a higher score. identified by the number in their upper left corner; 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The first player to be able to Pot Small Pots: This Container score pairs of different Mint, Chive and Thyme will receive the special Biscuit Herbs. Ex: 2 Dill, 2 Tarragon and 2 Lavender. The card that is worth 5 points at the end of the game. Only more pairs, the more points. three cards may be Potted in the Glass Jar and they can be any card. The scoring is based on the amount of cards Potted and then the numbers on the cards are added as a bonus.

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Game Review (Cont.)

The second step is Pot. This is the main mechanic of the game. On your turn you draw a card and decide to either place it in your Private Garden or place it in the Community Garden. Then you draw a second card and place it in the Garden that you didn’t choose on the first draw.

The game ends when the deck is depleted and players are unable to Pot anymore Herbs or everyone has fulfilled all their Container cards.

gets to perform the indicated action. The effects are interesting and add an additional layer of interest to the game. They are well worth including in your games.

Although “Herbaceous” is a light set collecting/hand management game it is enjoyable enough to appeal to a wide range of gamers. I think that this may be a perfect game for gaming husbands to introduce to their non-gaming wives, as well as non-gamers in general.

The theme is well implemented and the atmospheric artwork by Beth Sobel accentuates the “inviting” nature of the game.

Points are scored by the charts on the Container cards, the Biscuit card and 1 point for each Herb card The “push your luck” element is felt throughout the remaining in their Private Garden. The player with the game, especially at three and four players, as everyone most points wins. is trying to get “the good cards”. There is a sense of urgency to quickly fill your pots, but at the same time The game also includes a solo variant. The main that will not necessarily score you the most points at differences between this variant and the main game is the end, so there is an interesting dynamic in terms of that the Community Garden is discarded from play when and what to Pot. It is imperative that you keep an when a fifth card is placed in it. This leads to a faster eye on your opponent’s gardens, as well as their synergy paced game. The other difference is that there is a with the Community Garden. discard pile and on your turn you draw 3 cards, one at a time, and place them either into the Discard pile, This is a nice light filler that should prove to be the Community Garden or your Private Garden, in appealing to many players due to the attractive artwork the same manner as the main game. Your final score is and the “friendly” theme. compared to the enclosed chart. It is clear that in order to score well you need to obtain the Biscuit. Due to Designers: Steve Finn & Eduardo Baraf using only half of the deck for the game, it is possible to not get one of the three Special Herbs, thus making Publisher: Pencil First Games it impossible to get the Biscuit. I’d prefer to see a rules Number of players: 1-4 tweak in which 33 cards are randomly chosen and then Mechanic: Set Collecting a complete set of Special Herbs are shuffled in.

There is also a small 3 card expansion pack. The Flavor cards act as events during the game. Two of the three cards are shuffled into the bottom half of the deck.

When they are revealed during the game, each player

Ages: 8+

Length: 20 mins.

Recommended www.pencilfirstgames.com

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Game Review

A Feast For Odin

By Steve Krause

Rosenberg’s Valhalla

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our land is empty. Your clan is small. There’s so much to do with so little time. But there’s hope. Your land is not barren, and your clan is growing. Whether to trek into the hills for building material, begin raising cattle, arm yourselves for raiding and pillaging or head to the market to trade some goods one thing’s certain: It’s up to you.

A Feast for Odin is Uwe Rosenberg’s latest triumph, coming on the tails of the massively successful Patchwork and Caverna and capitalizes on key mechanics in both: worker placement and space management. In it you overseeing a clan of Vikings vying for prestige by collecting goods in various ways – crafting, trading, raiding – and filling your empty tableau to reap rewards and, in classic Rosenberg style, not lose points.

The worker placement is mostly straight forward, except each Viking does not often translate to one action. The Action Board functions as a grid, following the game’s aesthetic: While there are 60+ actions from which to choose, they are organized in four columns and 9 rows, with the rows representing the type of action and columns representing the complexity of the action, requiring more vikings the more complex.

The 9 main actions – building, hunting, livestock market, weekly market, products, crafting, mountains and trade, and sailing – are drawn with surprising clarity and nuance, leading to multiple paths toward the same goal. Meandering onto someone else’s strategy is rarely a nuisance, which is why people who appreciate the nail-biting tightness and depth of Rosenberg’s 2007 masterpiece “Agricola” may find Odin oddly paced and more of a luxury walk across a pile of cloth and metal. But that meandering, breezy feeling winds itself through the whole gaming experience, and allows Rosenberg to experiment, to add more mechanics than necessary, which leads to more and more paths to different kinds of gameplay.

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There is a risk-management element – rolling a die for hunting and raiding – that rewards failure so it’s not a zerosum game. There’s an element of spacial management on the various boards, where if an icon is completely surrounded you receive it as a reward every round. There’s an income system, earned by covering up

Photo: Steve Krause

large, square swaths of land – starting in the lower left of It’s hip to be square a tile and moving diagonally up-right – that encourages fast expansion and maximizing efficiency every round, Just as players try to best manage their grid, Rosenberg because money is not only points but it’s a substitute designed the inserts and Action Board to match that for food. aesthetic and achieved a kind of organizational zen.

Odin includes two plastic trays that, as laid out in the rulebook, organize all goods from smallest to largest, left to right, and most basic food to most complex trade

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Game Review (Cont.)

Photo: Steve Krause

goods, bottom to top. When you need to upgrade a good you either flip it to its opposite side or exchange it for the good in the next tray up, which, when making in-game calculations, can prevent wasted energy by streamlining the process to near-perfect quality.

As far as theme goes, filling in space in an orderly, blocky way has always been a human fascination: from the organization of cities, filled row-to-row with concrete towers, to traditional classrooms, filled with students in neat rows all facing one way, to Tetris, a fundamental approach to simply filling in empty space Everything in Odin is organized in a way to make with blocks that’s instantly approachable and a lifethe experience as accessible as possible without losing long challenge. And as chaotic and non-square – on the intense depth offered by the number and level of the whole – nature is, humans tend to gravitate toward decisions. Rosenberg has taken some of the onus of cities, toward structure, not because it’s ideal but because bookkeeping out of the players’ hands, which is both at a fundamental level it’s comfortable. appreciated and novel.

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Photo: Steve Krause

Considering this, Odin’s abstraction of “neatly filling something board games often lack – context – and while your tableau with collected stuff” isn’t as farfetched as it you may not be able to draw a one-to-one comparison is human nature. of mechanic to theme, it’s not for lack of thought.

One other component worth mentioning: The Almanac. Rosenberg decided that the at-first-glance relationship between theme and mechanic could be considered tenuous, so he included all his research into Nordic culture. It’s an alphabetical listing of almost every component in the game, and some that aren’t, and how they relate to the culture at large thematically and mechanically. It’s a beautiful, thoughtful inclusion of

As a matter of fact, there’s little that feels rushed about A Feast for Odin. While it can seem chaotic at all times, with so many types of goods and so much land to cover with only so many actions, it has a planned feel to it. Every path seems on level footing – except maybe raiding/pillaging, which is an easy way to cover a lot of ground, but, naturally, there’s more competition there.

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Game Review (Cont.)

Photo: Steve Krause

In past Rosenberg games, feeding is a key motivating factors of having a proper economy running, and fast.

In Odin, your clan begins prosperous, with farmers growing crops and plenty of ways to acquire more food, so the question isn’t “Will my family eat?,” it’s “How will my family eat?” Your clan can eat a robust number of things, and, as such, demands a varied diet, simply for a show of prestige and panache to appease their god, Odin. In Agricola, this mechanic was the greatest motivating factor. Making sure your family was fed was dread-inducing, harrowing and immersive.

Like its laissez faire approach to interventionism – as in, there isn’t any – so, too, does the feast feel laid-back, and, well, like an actual feast. There are so many options for food, and so many, easy, ways to arrange them that it’s more a matter of efficiency than urgency. You can save a fish, knowing you’ll upgrade it a pelt next round, or you can use it and save money, knowing you’ll have a lean round with no crops – which happens every other round. The options really do feel like an all-you-can-

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eat buffet, your path always available in some sense, your style of play that fits your tastes always there for the executing. And while this a la carte design creates a less-competitive atmosphere, that’s also the point. This is game you can play however you want, whenever you want. If you’ve just had a helping of raiding and sailing, you can easily grab a handful of crafting and building to shore things up, and grab some products to-go, and all can be efficient and engaging and correct, because there’s no wrong way to feast.

Designer: Uwe Rosenberg Publisher: Z-Man Games Number of players: 1-4 Mechanic: Worker Placement Ages: 12+ Length: 30-120 mins.

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Highly Recommended www.zmangames.com

Photo: Steve Krause

The 800-pound starving gorilla in the room

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Interview

John Ariosa

By Serge Pierro

Artist Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with our readers, can you tell us a little something about yourself?

Additionally I have a sister who paints and a brother who is a musician.

What are your earliest recollections of doing art?

Hi! My name is John Ariosa, I’m a freelance 2d artist living in Brooklyn.

Do you come from an artistic family?

I do, my parents met while they were both working in a theater as set and costume designers.

My mom still makes puppets and teaches children’s art classes.

John Ariosa

Artist Mice and Mystics Summoner Wars Roll Player Evolution Tavarua www.johnariosa.com

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I was really into Dragonball and Pokemon as a kid and had whole notebooks full of fanart of them and other cartoons and videogames. I would also draw giant mazes or video game levels out with friends and plan out traps and monsters in them.

Are you self taught or did you study art in school?

A little bit of both, I went to college for product design which gave me a very good foundation in drawing in perspective, color theory and rendering techniques but didn’t really touch on things like anatomy or composition so I had to seek that out on my own. Luckily there are so many good resources online for self taught artists that between them and going to figure drawing sessions at local artspaces, I was able to help fill in the gaps in my studies. You’re never done learning art though so I’m definitely still trying to educate myself all the time.

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Interview (Cont.)

Who are your main artistic influences?

There’s too many to list them all but some of the big ones that come to mind are Moebius, John William Waterhouse, Thomas Scholes, Egon Schiele, John Singer Sargent, Tsutomu Nihei, Calum Alexander Watt and Tanaka Tatsuyuki. Lots of figurative stuff, I’m a huge sucker for imaginative realism and superb draftsmanship.

Who are your favorite board game/card game artists?

Again there are a so many different people I admire doing art for games currently but I think I would have to pick all of the people who were working on Magic the Gathering in the late 90’s/ early 00’s. The art direction and illustration in that game was a huge inspiration to me even getting involved with painting and game art in the first place.

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What is your favorite medium to work in?

Digitally, I enjoy sketching with pen and paper but working on a computer affords much more creative flexibility and is much easier to make drastic changes as you work. It also lets you travel with your work much more easily.

Can you tell us about your studio and work environment?

I share a live/work studio with my partner who makes art that is very material, installation and fashion based so there’s all kinds of metalworking, sewing, painting tools and supplies along with my computer workstation taking up the majority of our home. We’ve got three cats in the space on top of that too so it can be a little crazy looking at times but art is very much the biggest part of both of our lives so I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Interview (Cont.)

How did you get involved in creating artwork for the game industry?

I had an opportunity to intern at Hasbro while I was in school. Back then they had a separate office for their game division and I got the chance to work under lot of immensely talented designers. I started doing some placeholder art for Battleship Galaxies and my boss, Craig Van Ness, liked it enough to use it as the production art. He also introduced me to Colby Dauch who at the time was designing Summoner Wars and after I left Hasbro I continued to work with Plaid Hat. The rest kind of snowballed from there and I’ve been working on games ever since!

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Do you enjoy playing games? If so, what are some of your favorite games?

I do! My favourite games are pen and paper RPGs. I GM for one group and play in another but it can be hard to find time and coordinate everybody’s schedules to play them regularly so I’ll often get a quick videogame fix instead. Right now my favourites are DOTA and Civilization VI. Continued on next page>

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Interview (Cont.)

If you had an opportunity to do the artwork for a game by a specific game designer, who would it be, and what would you like the theme to be?

I think I’ve already gotten that opportunity with un upcoming game Solstice. The designer, Grant Rodiek, and I have gotten to work together before on a few projects and are on the same wavelength when it comes to art. He let me have a ton of creative freedom with the direction. The game is very much inspired by Dune and scifi space opera, which is some of my favourite subject matter, and the whole thing was just such a blast to work on. It’s slated to go to Kickstarter spring 2017 so keep an eye out!

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What component do you enjoy rendering the most and why? The box cover, cards, the board, tiles, etc.?

My favourites are often the cards, especially if they involve character design. Characters are my favourite subject material and working on a bunch of different cards provides an opportunity to mix things up and have a lot of variety rather than working on one piece for a long amount of time.

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Interview (Cont.)

What is the piece of artwork that you are most proud of?

Oh man, there’s no way I could pick just one piece. As a whole project though, probably the Mice and Mystics franchise. There was so much cool story and world building that the designer, Jerry Hawthorne, did behind the scenes and it was a real pleasure to bring that into a visual form through the art.

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You’ve done a lot of images for “Summoner Wars”, are you given precise art direction for the pieces, or do you have creative freedom?

It varied a lot from design to design. Sometimes Colby would have very specific instructions for what he wanted the unit to look like, others I would just have the unit’s name and ability and would develop sketches from that. Summoner Wars was a very long term project too with all of the different factions and several different artists contributing. It was a challenge at times to keep the art looking visually consistent over several years. I remember specifically when we were working on the art for the Filth faction things went a little off the deep end towards Akira-esque body horror and we had to pull back quite a bit on some of the designs.

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Interview (Cont.)

Since your art for “Mice and Mystics” is based on animals, what was the challenge in conveying the Anthropomorphic nature of the imagery?

When I was brought on to Mice and Mystics the mini sculptor, Chad Hoverter, had already designed the mini’s for a few of the main characters so I already had a style guide to work with in those. Animal based designs are actually easier for me than completely invented fantasy creatures since you have real world reference to use. The tricky part was finding the right balance between realistic and cartoony art styles to match the tone of the game.

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Do you illustrate projects outside of the game industry?

I also work in the advertising and entertainment industry, most often doing storyboarding or comp art. It’s a little more behind the scenes than game illustration in that I’m often sketching out lots of quick drawings to help people visualize ideas rather than doing polished complete illustrations. I’ve done some work in comics in the past as well but that was much more of a hobby than a professional job.

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Interview (Cont.)

Do you have any news on upcoming projects?

Aside from Solstice, which I mentioned earlier, Shifting Realms designed by Craig and Jeff Van Ness is on Kickstarter this March. It’s a fantasy alternate reality historical euro game you can find out more about at Soaring Rhino’s youtube channel! There’s some other things in the works I can’t talk about yet too :)

Do you accept private commissions?

I do! People who are interested can get in touch with me through my website (www.johnariosa.com).

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How can readers keep up to date on what projects you are working on?

I post game artwork as it gets shared by publishers on my instagram account (@ariosa) and try to keep my website updated as new things get released.

What advice would you give to aspiring board game artists?

Be persistent in sharing your portfolio! Don’t get down on yourself if you don’t hear back from publishers and keep trying with new work every so often. It can be easy to get discouraged but showing improvement over time to potential clients is always great and just because an AD doesn’t have a project you would fit with at the moment doesn’t mean the same will be true in six months or a year. If you’re getting responses but aren’t getting projects, ask why. Getting constructive criticism on your work is some of the most valuable feedback, just be sure to be polite and respectful when asking for it!

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Game Review

Schotten Totten

By Serge Pierro

Classic Knizia Card Game

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henever there is a discussion involving the best two player card games, inevitably two of Reiner Knizia’s games are mentioned: Lost Cities and Schotten Totten. Some gamers may be familiar with Battle Line, which was Schotten Totten re-themed with an ancient military theme; however, Iello Games has brought back the classic game with its original Scottish theme, while also including the Tactics cards and new artwork by Djib.

The game comes in a small 4” x 6” x 1 3/4” box and has a custom graphic printed on inside of the box bottom, as well as spot varnished areas on the front and sides of the box top. There is no insert.

The 16 page rulebook is the size of the box and generously illustrated throughout. The instructions are clear and concise. Five pages are devoted to the Tactic cards and their effects.

The Stone tiles are made of a sturdy cardboard stock and come on three punchboards.

The matte finished cards have an excellent “snap” to them. The artwork is energetic and vibrant, with articles of clothing matching the card color. The artwork is a major upgrade from the original edition. There are small Celtic symbols on the top and bottom of the cards to aid those who are color blind.

The setup for the game is simple, place the 9 Stone tiles in a straight line between the two players, thus forming the “Border”. Shuffle the deck of cards and deal 6 cards to each player.

On a player’s turn they will play one of the cards from their hand. The Clan cards are numbered from 1-9, with each of the numbers available in

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six different colors. When a card is played at a Stone tile it remains there for the rest of the game. Players will be alternating the placement of cards and drawing a card at the end of their turn.

The object of the game is to claim either 5 Stone tiles anywhere along the Border

or 3 Stone tiles that are adjacent to each other. To Color-Run: This is the best hand. Three cards of the claim a tile you have to have the best combination of same color and in a consecutive numerical run. Ex: 7, 8 cards. This is triggered when each side has three cards and 9 in a specific color. at a Stone tile, though it is possible to make a Claim with less cards, but you have to “prove” that it can’t be Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same strength. Ex: Claimed.

7, 7 and 7.

There is a hierarchy that is used for the rankings of the best card combinations.

Color: Three cards of the same color.

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Game Review (Cont.)

Run: Three cards in numerical order, color doesn’t From the Combat Modes category: Blind Man’s Bluff matter. is always fun to play as it changes the conditions of Claiming a Stone to “strength only”, which is great to Sum: The total strength of the three cards. play against low Color-Runs.

Higher strengths within each category defeats lower strengths. Ex. 7, 8 and 9 in red defeat 6, 7 and 8 in blue. Ex. 4, 4 and 4 beats 3, 3 and 3, etc.

While the basic game is quite enjoyable on its own, players who are looking for an additional layer of depth will want to use the Tactical cards. This deck is shuffled and placed next to the Clan deck. On a player’s turn they may draw from either deck. On their turn they may play either a Clan card to the Border or play a Tactics card. There is a caveat as to their use, you may only play “one more” than your opponent has played.

Ex: If your opponent has not played a Tactics card, you may play one; however, you now can’t play any other Tactic cards until your opponent has played one. This keeps the power of the cards under control and stops someone from just continuously drawing and playing from the Tactics deck.

The Tactics cards have their effects listed in the rulebook; however, here are a few examples: From the Elite Troops category: The Joker is a powerful card in which you decide what the strength and color are when you are Claiming a Stone. Since this is powerful effect, you are only able to play one of them on your side of the Border. There are two of them in the deck and if you have already played one and draw the other, then it will clog your hand for the rest of the game.

From the Ruses category: Strategist allows you to move a card on an unclaimed Stone on your side of the Border and move it to another unclaimed Stone. This allows for last second maneuvers, allowing you to win a Stone that your opponent thought they were going to win.

There is a reason why Schotten Totten is often mentioned in classic card game lists. In typical Knizia fashion, it has very simple rules and yet has depth for those who are willing to look a bit deeper. While at first glance it seems that there would be a predominant strategy, but the way that the game unfolds has a way of upsetting those thoughts. And when you throw in the Tactics cards, the bluffing/paranoia level rises as you have to factor in the possibility of your opponent playing one of these cards at an “inopportune” moment. This is a classic card game and if you haven’t had a chance to play it, then you should consider purchasing this edition, as it will quickly become one your “classics” as well.

Designer: Reiner Knizia Publisher: Iello Games Number of players: 2 Mechanic: Hand Management Ages: 8+ Length: 20 mins.

Highly Recommended www.iellogames.com

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Game Review

This Belongs in a Museum

By Serge Pierro

Archeological Tile Laying

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his Belongs in a Museum is the third game in the “Drawn and Quartered” series of games by Rather Dashing Games, with the previous ones being Pirates, Ninjas, Robots and Zombies and Graveyards, Ghosts and Haunted Houses. This new release should prove to be popular with fans of the previous games in the series. However, if you’ve never played any of those games, would this be a good place to start? Let’s find out.

The game comes in an 8 1/4” x 5 1/2” x 3” box and features a custom, black plastic insert. The insert has two deep wells for the tiles and a long/ deep trench for the tokens and the standees with their bases attached.

The 8 page rulebook has 7 pages of rules and the back page devoted to an ad for their catalog of games. For the most part the rules are clear; however, there was a confusing section that placed the definition of “locked” after three rules talking about “locked” and no previous mentioning of the term.

Otherwise the rules are fine, and supported with various illustrations and examples.

The 2 3/4” tiles are linen finished with rounded corners and are made of a thick cardboard stock. These are high quality tiles.

The tokens and standees are made of the same material as the tiles and the plastic bases for the standees fit snugly, without tearing the surface.

To start the game, each player chooses an Archeologist and receives the associated Mummy and Artifacts. Players randomly choose five out of the eight Artifacts which they will pursue during the game. Each player receives their Base Camp tile and three Dig Site tiles from the deck. Place

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the Tomb tile in the center of the play area and place each player’s Mummy on the tile.

On a player’s turn they will: Place a tile, Resolve the Action icon (optional), Move (optional), Collect an Artifact (optional) and draw a new Dig Site tile.

Place a tile: Each turn, player’s must play one of the tiles from their hand. These must connect by placing the tile’s side alongside another tile - the sides don’t have to match. When a player decides to play their Base Camp tile, they place their Archeologist standee on the tile, thus making it available for movement.

Resolve the Action icon: Some tiles have an Action icon on them and these have a profound effect on the game, as this is the main means of manipulating the layout, other than the initial placing of tiles. These actions include - “Rotate” any unlocked Dig Site tile up to 180°, “Swap” and rotate any two unlocked Dig Site tiles and “Replace” by taking an unlocked Dig Site When an Archeologist or Mummy occupies a tile it is tile into your hand and replacing it with another tile considered “Locked” and can’t be affected by any of the from your hand. Instead of using the aforementioned Action icons listed below.

Actions, you may choose to move any Mummy in place of the Action.

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Game Review (Cont.)

Move: You may move your Archeologist up to 3 spaces. the Actions on the Dig Site tiles, yet this would still be Each Temple or Artifact counts as 1 space. There are an ideal game to play with your family, especially if they other modifications to movement, such as terrain and are not “gamers”. airports.

The one downside is that not all of the tiles have Collect an Artifact: If you land on a space that contains Actions on them, so it is possible for one player to one of the Artifacts that you drew at the beginning of obtain more Actions due to the luck of the draw and the game, you reveal the tile and place it aside to score gain a significant advantage. There were also games an additional 3 points at the end of the game. Your where I had two Airports in hand and had no decent Archeologist then immediately returns to their Base play. I would have liked to have seen a discard one tile Camp. to draw one tile rule built into the turn sequence, to help alleviate the problem of drawing dead hands.

Draw a Dig Site tile: At the end of your turn you draw a Dig Site tile.

With a time of 20-30 minutes listed on the box, the game easily falls into the filler range and provides some The main means of scoring is achieved with an interesting decision-making for such a “simple” game. area majority mechanism. Each Archeologist has an This game offers more depth than the previous games associated color and the Dig Site tiles have areas of those in the series, as the use of the Archeologists, Mummies colors on them. Players attempt to gain groups of their and Artifacts all add to the strategic decision making tiles that connect back to their Base Camp. Only the process throughout the game. Families who are looking sections of tiles that can be traced continuously to the for a fast game that provides opportunities to “laugh Base Camp score at the end of the game. and groan” at the “take that” effects, will find this to be a good game to consider adding to your collection.

When the last tile is drawn each player gets one final turn and then the points are calculated with one point for each of your temple spaces that connects back to Designer: Rather Dashing Games the Base Camp, 3 points for each collected Artifact and Publisher: Rather Dashing Games then “X” points for the temples at the locations of their Mummy and Archeologist. The highest score wins.

Number of players: 2-4 Although I haven’t played any of the previous games in the series, I am familiar with them. This game seems like a natural progression from the previous ones and if you have enjoyed them, then you will probably like this one even more — as it has a lot more to offer. There is a “take that” element that permeates the game due to

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Mechanic: Tile Laying, Area Majority Ages: 10+ Length: 20-30 mins.

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Recommended www.ratherdashinggames.com

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Solo Gaming

One Deck Dungeon

By Jeff Rhind

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here’s been a lot of hype online for One Deck Dungeon and I decided to pick up a copy to see what all the fuss was about. It’s a small box with cards, lots of little dice, some cubes, and a little rulebook. Out of the box it’s a solo or two player game.

Higher player counts require additional copies of the game. I tried it out solo – Wow! There is a lot of game in this little box!

Designed by Chris Cieslik and published by Asmadi Games, One Deck Dungeon is essentially a mini dungeon crawler. You take on the role of your usual fantasy class types, Mage, Rogue, Paladin, etc. It is interesting to note is that all the classes are female - there are no male characters at all. My 8 year-old daughter liked that a lot!

After choosing your character, and your dungeon which are rated easy to hard, you assemble your initial dice. The dice are different colors and represent strength, agility, and magic and differ from character to character.

Moreover, you will have special abilities that allow you to gain additional hero dice or heal damage. Your hero card is indicates your health or hit points. On your turn, you expend time by discarding 2 cards in your dungeon deck, and you can “Explore” which adds up

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to four possible rooms (Encounter Cards) to enter or you can “Enter a Room” which results in Combat Encounters or Peril Encounters. Lastly, on the Turn Reference card, a white cube is placed on the potion section. Each cube represents one use of any potion placed under the card including the one already printed on it.

In Combat encounters creatures have special abilities that will make your battle more difficult. You roll dice and place them on the card to meet the required numbers or higher based on the type of dice required. Two dice of any color can be exchanged for a one-time use black hero die of the lowest value of the two dice you exchanged. You get those colored dice back at the end of the encounter. This helps mitigate requirements that might be too difficult because perhaps you don’t have enough strength or agility dice to meet the check. It’s very possible that you can still “beat” the creature, take the loot but pay the consequences which is usually made up of losing health points and possibly time (discards of the dungeon deck). Lose too much health and you lose the game. Health can be regained with various potions.

Peril encounters are handled a bit differently. Here you will have a choice between two checks both require a different type of die and one is always harder than the other, and each with its own consequences should you fail.

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Photo: Jeff Rhind

If that weren’t hard enough, in either case, as you roll dice to beat your foe, you will also need to beat the dungeon floor or suffer the consequences. Once you get through the dungeon deck and you reach the “stairs” card at the bottom, you advance down to the next level of the dungeon. Shuffle up the encounter cards and start another round. After three, you will face the dungeon boss on the flip side of the dungeon card. Hopefully, you have gained enough XP to level up, have more dice, potions and skills necessary to fight the horrible beastie -- they are tough to beat.

When you can claim a card as loot, which may or may not involve suffering consequences, that card is multipurpose. Once you choose, you can’t voluntarily change it to something else. Although there are some cards that allow you to convert one type of loot to another. A

claimed card can act as experience points that allow your hero to level up or it can be equipment, which means you can get an extra die or more. It can be a special skill/new ability that you place at the bottom of your hero card or it could be a new potion you place under the Turn Reference card.

All heroes begin at level one which limits how many potions they can have, how many skills they can use and how much equipment they can carry which translates into how many of each die type they are allowed to roll.

Leveling up is key to winning the game as well as playing the included campaign mode.

I wish the box was a bit bigger for those of us that like to sleeve cards. Although not a huge issue if you toss the simple insert. However, what about expansions? This Continued on next page>

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Solo Solo SoloGaming Gaming Gaming(Cont.)

(Cont.)

(Cont.)

Photo: Jeff Rhind

game is the new solo hotness right now and I think more cards and “stuff” would be very welcome. Depending on what gets added, the box might get a little tight.

Photo: Jeff Rhind

This game is an ingenious design. Having the encounter card be a multi-purpose loot (reward) card is a great idea. What type of loot will you use that card for? XP? More dice? Or a really cool special ability that comes in handy later? Don’t forget about those potions! That’s where a lot of the strategy in this game resides – the risk/reward from the choices you make. Sure, it’s a bit random with success hinging on the card flip and the required die rolls but the strategy in this game comes from the balance of how you use your dice, skills and potions together.

One Deck Dungeon has a lot of replayability. Nothing heavy here to be sure and a fair amount of randomness.

Lots of variety on the encounter cards. Different heroes to play. Different dungeon difficulty levels. Different bosses to face in the end. Although the rulebook does have some ambiguity in it, a visit to the BGG forums should address most questions. Otherwise, One Deck Dungeon is fantastic compact card-based, dice chuckin’ dungeon crawler worthy of the hype train it’s currently on.

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Education

My Top Family Social Studies Games

By David Niecikowski, MAED, ABD

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his article is a continuation of a series of articles about games with educational connections my family has played over the last 14 years when my boys were as young as 5 and 3. The previous two articles focused on games that emphasized Language and Math and this article focuses on games that have strong social studies content connections. Content considerations were limited to historic events and cultural eras (Stone Age and Cyclades) and not games that stress economics; economic games will be discussed in a future article.

As in the Family Math Games article, games were ranked based on the frequency of plays over time. We have hundreds of social studies themed games but most have hit the table on only 1 to 3 occasions and in retrospect, have sat on the shelf for years. So, as in the Family Language Games article, the games on this list are ones we are more likely to pick based on our mood and when friends and family visit.

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#1) Stone Age (2008) This is one of the first worker placement games we played that simulates acquiring resources and improving in technology to score the most points through constructing buildings, advancing in technology and arts, and earning multipliers in categories such as population, farming, and tools. It is our number 1 choice because the game play is super smooth with meaningful decisions that provide just the right amount of tension where ‘run-away leader’ or ‘take that’ game situations seldom occurs.

#2) Timeline (2010) and Timeline Challenge (2015) When we are in the mood to play a trivia game we prefer this series of games as players do not have to be experts while trying to be the first to ride their hand of cards for the card game version (2010) or race to the finish in the board game version (2015). Although those who can remember the exact dates will be more competitive, the game often rewards players

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who can make educated guesses based on card artwork and dates already in play. Timeline Challenge provides a catch-up mechanic for less competitive players. We appreciate having the option to play a particular deck from a given time-period/theme, combine decks, or play the board game version.

#3) Wyatt Earp (2001) This game is also our favorite rummy variant where players race to earn $25,000 capturing infamous outlaws from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. The theme may be leaning toward anachronistic but it can be effective in generating discussion or interest about historic outlaws’

actions. As far as card games go in terms of luck of the draw, options are available that help mitigate bad draws or in trying to prevent a ‘run-away leader’.

#4) Guillotine (1998) This is a hilarious, or depending on your point of view, distasteful, take on a terrifying event, the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. Players try to score the most points collecting the heads of nobles in a guillotine line by manipulating the line order over three days with event cards. Some innocent nobles are worth negative points in an attempt to simulate the zealousness/tragedy of the executions.

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Education (Cont.)

#5) Bang! (2002) and Bang! The Dice these problems while still effectively simulating World War II battles. Although it can take Game (2013) Bang! does an excellent job of simulating Spaghetti Westerns of the Sergio Leone/Clint Eastwood variety. Players try to survive in a gun duel as either outlaws, sheriff/deputies, or the renegade. Only one group can be left standing and the fun is trying to figure out each other’s identity as the only one that is known at the beginning of the game is the identity of the sheriff. We have been playing the dice game version more often since it is quicker and this helps diminish the ‘player elimination’ issue with the card game; e.g., in the card game version your non-Sheriff character could be eliminated early reducing you to a spectator waiting for the survivors to finish duking it out.

#6) Memoir ‘44 (2004) Having grown-up on Avalon Hill and SPI war games, specifically Squad Leader, I do not have the time anymore for 4+ hour war games with 32+ rulebooks and my boys were too young for hardcore war games anyway. Now that they are older, they do not have interest in long war games where you have to keep referencing the rule book every 5 minutes. Memoir ’44 solves

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some time to set-up, especially when playing with expansions, Memoir ’44 is immensely satisfying where my sons have great memories playing with their uncles and cousins. Victory is determined by winning so many medals within so many game turns. Medals are typically earned eliminating units, moving units off the game board, and/or holding/taking predetermined positions.

#7) 7 Wonders (2010) and 7 Wonders Duel (2015) 7 Wonders is a great card drafting game where players try to score the most victory points after three ages advancing their empire militarily, commercially, scientifically, civically, and in the areas of raw materials, manufactured goods, and guilds. The game is a satisfying civilization building simulation that can be played in less than 30 minutes. We have been playing 7 Wonders Duel more often lately due to its streamlining of gameplay.

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#10) Nuclear War (1965)

#8) Cyclades (2009)

Yes, for those of you have played Nuclear War, this game has a player elimination issue but that is part of the fun because an eliminated player can do a retaliatory strike as his/her country’s last action in an effort to take out an opponent who in turn can be eliminated, causing a domino effect where it is possible for all players lose the game; thus, simulating the futility of a real nuclear war (M.A.D. - Mutually Assured Destruction). So one could either laugh or cry about the seriousness of the situation. We chose to laugh while playing secrets, super secrets, and propaganda and loading payloads of megatons on delivery systems (missiles, bombers, etc.) #9) Revolution (2009) that are launched to destroy other countries’ Revolution successfully applies a rock-paper- populations. The last country with population scissors mechanic in the form of Force, wins.

Blackmail, and Gold in an effort to win the most victory points controlling revolutionary Thank you for taking the time to read the influential positions/territories such as the rankings. This is one of our favorite thematic harbor, fortress, market, church, town hall, categories. Honorable mentions include 10 plantation, and tavern. The game simulates Days series, Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers, factions competing to control the outcome of Catan: Ancient Egypt, Catan Histories: Settlers of a revolution through these positions/territories. America Trails to Rails, The Downfall of Pompeii, The fun comes from trying to anticipate and Kingdom Builder, Manhattan Project, Oregon, block opponents’ actions given the known Twilight Struggle, and Village. resources each opponent has each round.

This game successfully marriages Euro style bidding and victory point mechanics with ‘Ameritrash’ area control/combat. With its outstanding miniatures of mythical beasts and troops, this synthesis creates an immersive cultural experience where you really feel like you are part of an old stop motion Hollywood movie on a strategic scale while racing to be the first to build two cities. The choices you have are meaningful and the game successfully avoids player elimination and ‘camping’ that can be issues in other area control/victory point games.

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Game Review Opinion Still the King of Farming?

A Decade of Difficult Decisions

A

By Callum Dougherty

be randomly assigned or drafted in various ways. Each occupation and minor improvement card has a cost associated with it as well as a benefit received for playing it. There are actions you can perform without cards by just placing meeples, but the meat of the game lies My first experience of Agricola was as a young teenager. in understanding and planning a strategy around the I was desperate to play, It arrived in the late evening cards. Indeed, the real joy of Agricola comes when you and I immediately roped my non-gamer father to play. I know it well enough to draft your cards at the beginning read the rules as he waited, “Just a minute” I said, “Just and planning your whole game, before you even place a minute”. Yet those two minutes turned into nearly one meeple. two hours of trying to figure out how the game actually worked. Eventually, I boxed Agricola up and told my Playing the main body of the game quickly thereafter, dad we would play it another day, as I wasn’t confident scoring and then setting up again, perhaps trying that I even understood the game well enough to play a different expansion of minor improvement and through it, never mind that I could teach it to someone occupation cards or better yet, an expansion deck new not enthusiastic about gaming. I moved Agricola to all players to really test you. That experience is rich, upstairs to my room and set to it ,chipping away at it complex and very weighty. It doesn’t surprise me at all solo, where I tried to figure out how this strange beast that Agricola is popular for tournaments on a micro worked (almost a decade later I still play solo Agricola and world level as it’s a game that can be mastered a lot, it was probably my favorite solo game until Small offering both a steep learning curve and huge space for variety and expansion. Alternatively, Agricola also offers City see issue 12). a zen gaming experience, the building of fences, the That is the thing about Agricola and why I think it is so husbandry of animals and watching your little player loathed, it is not a game that comes to you immediately board grow really feels like play. Agricola offers a tactile and it is so easy to get wrong. Mastering the cards, the experience somewhere between a jigsaw and small interactions, the necessities that comes from just going wooden lego set. Agricola can be set up to play this way through the process many times and experimenting playing the family variant of the game and selecting the with the various deck options that come in the main easiest deck combinations. box game.

Agricola has been updated, replaced and reimplemented, however; it is still the best farming and harvest game Players begin Agricola with two workers (two actions a turn) and fourteen cards, seven from the occupation around. For example, the new hot property Fields of deck and seven from the minor improvement decks. Arle; I think it’s possible to wear that game out, you These occupation and minor improvement cards can always have the same options in a sandbox, where as with gricola has been a contentious point among gamers. It was the most derisive top ten ranked game on Boardgamegeek.com. It seemed to me that half of all gamers passionately hate it.

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Photo: Callum Dougherty

its huge variety, meaningful expansions and its changing yet well structured development of options throughout the game, it is still rewarding almost a full decade later.

Agricola gives you the lay of the land and says get there!

Your path can be clear or foggy. Sometimes people may take what you need, but the answer may lie in new cards. Sometimes you cruise to your destination and sometimes you stagger. You need to figure out what to do in your given situation and continually adjust your strategies both in a single game and from game to game.

Some would argue Argicola only offers an illusion of choice, as you have to do bit of everything, but I’m not sure a game about farming could have a path to success that only lays in new technologies, as you would starve before you either built the technologies or afford them. Agricola is about diversity and personal goals.

Unfortunately Designer Uwe Rosenburg’s own sequel to Agricola, Caverna falls flat because it has in-game engines that are easily exploitable and unbalanced.

Furthermore, I feel there are too many options and a lot

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can be ignored. Agricola tells you “no” and makes you diversify, Caverna says “yes” and I find it sadly lackluster.

I’m just not sure where the challenge is, while it is barely as much fun as Agricola.

The design of Agricola probably still draws a lot of players to it, the animal meeples are cute and the box is full to the brim. The art is rich and the graphics, whilst they aren’t cartoonish, are quite comical representations of the various professions and farmers within the game.

Agricola is full of little references for all types of gamers, for example the portraits on some cards, the effect of some actions and the board games in some of the farm rooms. Indeed, It was only when I decided to write this review that a friend pointed out to me the reference to Uwe Rosenburg’s earlier game Bohnanza. The art and the components of Agricola are lovely, and are better than a majority of games even after all this time. Even if newer farm games come to have better components than Agricola, they couldn’t match it for complexity and repeat plays. Still the best.

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Contributors Serge Pierro

Serge has playtested numerous games for several companies, including Wizards of the Coast and AEG. He has also written for Duelist, Inquest and Gamer print magazines. His award winning photography has appeared in both newspapers and magazines. He has self published a game, and has several other designs scheduled for a 2017 release.

Eric Devlin

Eric has been the North East Regional Representative for Wizards of the Coast, the brand manager of Legends of the Five Rings, as well as working with Sabretooth and Third World Games. He has an extensive background in playtesting for top companies. He has also written for Games Quarterly, Duelist, Inquest and others.

Bill Braun Bill has been a contributing writer for PSNation and High-

Def Digest, an Editor and Publisher Relations Director for 30PlusGamer, and the co-creator and podcast host of A Band of Gamers.

John Anthony Gulla John graduated with an M.A. in Humanities, wherein he focused his study on games, the history of gaming, and game design as it relates to the Humanities. He is an avid board gamer and game collector, with over 200 games in his current collection. You can reach him on BGG.com under the username JohnAG68

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Jeff Rhind Jeff is a single father raising a 17 year-old son and a 6 year-old daughter, and slowly coaxing them into the world of tabletop gaming. He has been gaming for many years and shares his love and appreciation for the hobby by reviewing and talking about games on his web site: completelyboard. com as well as his You Tube channel at youtube.com/completelyboard.

You can also follow him on twitter @jeffrhind

David Niecikowski David is a published game designer and recognized expert on using traditional games with families and students. Since 2000, over two dozen of his board games, role-playing supplements, books, and articles have been published. He has also worked as a freelance marketing and event consultant with scores of industry companies such as Alliance Game Distributors, Gen Con, Wizards of the Coast, Upper Deck, Mayfair, Rio Grande, AEG, and Out of the Box.

Kevin Lauryssen Kevin has a Master in Audiovisual Arts and majored in Animation. He works as a Freelance Draftsman for multiple companies in Belgium. He’s an avid gamer who has created a web-comic about boardgaming. His work can be found at www.game-night.be

Christine Sampson Christine is a full-time journalist who considers herself lucky to be doing exactly what she pictured herself doing when she was 15 years old. Her work has appeared in the Huffington Post, the East Hampton Star, Newsday, the Wall Street Journal, and many other publications and blogs. When she isn’t playing tabletop games, chasing down news stories, or trying to catch up on sleep, Christine can be found holed up working on her novel.

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Contributors (Cont.)

Robert Delwood

Robert, a professional technical writer by day, first played Panzer Leader and hasn’t stopped since. He’s playtested during that time, has written an Advanced Squad Leader automated player aid, and proof read rules for six companies. He’s also reviewed games for Fire and Movement, Armchair General, Paper Wars, and ASL Journal..

Callum Dougherty

Callum is a cinematographer and video artist working in film and fashion video. He is currently studying his MA in Film and Cultural Studies where he is busying himself figuring out how to squeeze ludology into every assignment! In his free time he can be found playing only the heaviest euros or trying out the creepiest and wibbliest new roleplaying games!

Tom M Franklin Tom lives in North Carolina where he and his wife are staff to their

five cats. His writing has appeared in his agent’s Inbox and the occasional hand-written letter to friends. He grew up playing Abstract Strategy Games (back when they were simply called games) and still regards dice of all kinds with suspicion. His Board Gaming Claim to Fame is having taught over 300 kids how to play Chess. Considering he’s been playing board games for over 50 years he really should be much better at them than he is.

Steve Krause Steve is a newspaper designer based out of Pontiac, Michigan. He first became enchanted with modern board games with Betrayal at House on the Hill, and it’s been downhill ever since. His work on board games has appeared in Slate, and he runs the @boardgamesofinsta Instagram account and you can follow him on Twitter at @Steve_Krause.

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Game Review Index

• • • • • •

This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the 2-4 of Us Small World Stella Nova Shoot-Out Postcard Cthulhu Postcard Empire

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Tile Chess Cards of Cthulhu Samurai Spirit Golem Arcana Pairs Sutakku Timeline

• • • • • • • • •

Baseball Highlights 2045 Samurai Sword Paperback For the Crown Trench Firefly Cutthroat Caverns Rise of the Zombies Shadow Throne

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• • • • • • • • •

Rhino Hero Attila Spurs and Sprockets Chaosmos March of the Ants AquaSphere Fidelitas Rise of Cthulhu Maha Yodah

• • • • • • • • • •

Animal Upon Animal Sushi Draft Stones of Fate WWII: Stalingrad Stockpile The Magnates Sentinel Tactics Flip City Space Movers 2201 Dark Tales

• • • • • • • • •

Nevermore Gold West Arcadia Quest Dragon Flame New York 1901 Lift Off! Tesla vs. Edison Yashima Targi

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Outer Earth 1944: Race to the Rhine Runecast Cycling Tour Witkacy Firefly: Fistful of Credits Dozen Doubloons King Down

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Game Review Index

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Steam Works Web of Spies Cartography Xia: Legends of a Drift System Orleans Raiders of the North Sea Hoyuk Wizards of the Wild Myths at War Ring It! Hogg Wild for Wealth The Martian Investigations

• • • • • • • • • • •

Cosmic Run Imperial Harvest Under the Pyramids (Eldritch Horror Expansion) Bomb Squad Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization Luna Biblios Dice Trekking the National Parks Fuse Skulldug!

Horrible Hex

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Cuisine a la Cart Foragers The Shadow Over Westminster Scoville Valeria: Card Kingdom Onitama Knit Wit Worlds Fair: 1893 Flip City: Reuse Gruff The Walled City Empires at Sea

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Game Review Index

• • • • • • • • • • • •

JurassAttack!

Oh My Gods!

Looting Atlantis 13 Days Apotheca Tiny Epic Galaxies Automobiles Daxu Slaughterville Kheops Scoville: Labs Ancient Conflict Treasure Chest

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Dr. Eureka Stockpile: Continuing Corruption Sugar Gliders Dawn of the Zeds: Third Edition Vast: The Crystal Caverns The Networks Grifters Trajan Conspiracy!

Secrets of the Last Tomb Best Treehouse Ever Matryoshka

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Imhotep In the Name of Odin Centauri Saga Draconis Invasion Dastardly Dirigibles Flamme Rouge Haspelknecht Hansa Teutonica Star Trek Panic Theomachy Commissioned San Ni Ichi Small City Issue #14

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Game Review Index

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Kanagawa Lunarchitects Hero Realms Santorini Vinhos: Deluxe Colony Sun Tzu Bermuda Crisis Tavarua Explorers of the North Sea America San Allies Crisis

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Hanamikoji Element Villages of Valeria Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition 7 Wonders Duel Oceanos Herbaceous A Feast For Odin Schotten Totten This Belongs in a Museum

Issue #15 May 2017

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